Whispers of a distant land
by Ellenlome
Summary: It's been 4 years since Haru's adventures with the cats. Her heart longs for a certain cat. But while both begin to sort out their emotions, a dark power is working to tear the known world apart in war...[ON HIATUS]
1. Prologue

**Whispers of a distant land: Prologue**

Four years. It had been four years. Haru was now 21, and studying art at the university, where she was known as quite the non-sociable person, or as a loner, even though her artwork was always amazing. She was currently having lunch with Hiromi, her very best friend, who went to the same university as Haru, but studied to become a teacher, and was thinking that today was really a fine day.

"…and then Tsuge just punched him!" said Hiromi in a hush.

"No way!" exclaimed Haru. "And all that because that guy insulted you! Wow, I wish I had a boyfriend to do something like that for me!"

"Well, you could, if only you dared to look at all those poor boys ogling after you! But nooo, you just shrug them off."

Haru chuckled. It was true that she could have gotten a boyfriend anytime she wanted, since she was quite beautiful, and, ever since her adventure with the cats and Baron, she had that sort of aura around her that just seemed to lure boys to her like flies to honey. Baron. He was the reason she never looked more than once at the boys. Every time one of them caught her interest a bit, she compared him to the aristocratic and elegant cat, and soon after dismissed him. If they only knew that she was comparing them to a cat… Hiromi's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Say, you're not still in love with Mochita, are you?" she asked, peering at the dreamy eyes of her friend.

Haru jumped. "Heavens, no!" she cried. "I got over him years ago!"

"Ah, good. I was afraid you still had a crush on him."

"Hiromi!"

"What? You never know. You're such a dreamer, I'm sure not even your own mother knows what is going on in your head!"

Both girls giggled. If at all, Haru's mother didn't know what was going on in _her _head. She was a textile designer, and the patterns that she came up with were fantastic, even though she could never explain how she came up with them.

"Having fun girls?" asked a playful voice.

"Tsuge!" smiled Hiromi. "You're out of the infirmary already?"

"Hai!" Tsuge said as he leaned down to kiss his girlfriend on the brow. "They couldn't keep me away from you any longer."

Hiromi giggled, leaning happily on Tsuge's shoulder. Haru smiled at her friends. They were so obviously in love. She idly wondered when Tsuge was going to propose to her.

"So, what is the news around?" asked Tsuge as he helped himself to a home-made rice ball from Hiromi's lunchbox.

"You mean, aside from you fighting with Kawami and managing to break his nose as well as yours? Oh, nothing," replied Haru.

Tsuge chuckled. "Nothing eh? Well, it sound like, for once, the 'Girls' rumors' are behind the 'Boys' News'!" he declared with a knowing smirk at his nickname for the two types of rumors going around school.

"Oi! Tsuge! Tell us what you know!" Hiromi smirked as she playfully whacked him. Tsuge smiled coyly.

"Well, it's not sure at all, but I heard Hiirisagawa say that…"

Unfortunately (or fortunately, considering how bad a storyteller Tsuge was), the bell rang just then, and the three had to hurry up back to class, Tsuge and Hiromi going their way since their subjects (Sports and Teaching respectively) had a lecture in common in fourth period. Haru waved at her friends then hurried to her classroom. It was a painting studio, and she had that project that she really wanted to finish. It depicted an orange cat in a white suit. Haru smiled. It really was a fine day.

Back at the cat kingdom, someone was waiting for an audience with Natori, one of King Lune's advisors. It was a rather strange creature. It had cat ears and whiskers, and a generally cat look-alike head in shape, but its face had monkey features, and the rest of its body was definitely that of a monkey. Add to that that the creature was coal black with white stripes like a tigers, and it was no wonder the quite stern advisor Natori gasped upon seeing him.

The grey cat quickly disciplined himself though, not wanting to insult their guest. After all, one must not judge a mouse by its color, and the creature did send a pretty good record in ambassadorship in different countries, as well as an impressive multi-linguistic background. "Mr. Fento?" the cat asked as he stepped forward. The creature lifted it head at hearing his name, and again Natori was thankful for the years he had spent schooling his expressions under the precedent King's rule (who had been lightly crazy, and threw anyone who displeased him out the window at the time), for the creature's face was terrifying, and one had a hard time picturing him in a diplomatic career.

Nonetheless, the creature bowed respectfully, saying in a honey-combed voice: "Advisor Natori, it is a pleasure to meet you."

The cat nodded, and motioned for Fento to follow him into his office, where they both sat on each side of a large oak desk, probably the only fancy thing in Natori's office, seeing as the rest was only records and bookshelves, all in the same dark oak wood as the desk.

"Well, Mr. Fento, I believe you've sent your application for the post of ambassador of the cat kingdom towards the other kingdoms and empires."

"That is perfectly correct, advisor" the creature said, and although he had been perfectly correct in both demeanor and speech, Natori couldn't help but have the impression that, somehow, Fento was mocking him for stating the obvious.

"Yes, your records are amazing, I must say, and I would very much like to employ you for the King", and at that Fento smiled slightly. "However" - and the creature's smile seemed to falter a bit - "the fact that you are not exactly a cat may be a problem."

"Oh, I understand that perfectly, advisor" agreed Mr. Fento.

"Really?"

"Yes. Why! It would be quite odd for the Cat's Kingdom's ambassador not to be a cat, wouldn't it? Don't worry; I'm quite aware of that fact. However, don't you think that my skills alone would be enough for me to be qualified?"

Natori didn't answer. He seemed to have suddenly become quite fascinated with the little pocket watch Fento had casually taken out and consulted during his brief speech. Fento smiled as he pushed the approval papers for his employment towards the seemingly hypnotized advisor.

"Now, don't you think that, by employing me, you would do the whole Kingdom a favor? After all, nothing could please the king more than having a competent ambassador, don't you think?"

"Sure, sure" answered Natori as he dreamily signed the papers.

"Thank you, advisor, you won't regret it. Now, if you don't mind, I really must get going. I have an appointment that I cannot miss, and will be back by tomorrow to meet the king. It was a pleasure doing business with you."

The monkey-like creature bowed and exited the room, a dark grin on his face. He had what he wanted.

It would be several minutes before Natori came back to his senses, and even then he could not really remember clearly what had happened or been said. It only knew that Mr. Fento had given him very good reasons to employ him, and that the creature was now the official ambassador of the Kingdom of Cats.


	2. Chapter one

**Author's note: **This story is NOT a Haru/Baron centric fic. I am going to try and use a lot of different characters at the same time, and the action will be very slow in the first few chapters.

Anyway, first fic, and since there wasn't much happening in the prologue I'm sending over the first chapter so you have a clearer idea of what I'm doing. It's my first fic, so I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best. Oh, and there's a bit of Lune/Yuki fluffyness in this chappie, for all Yuki/Lune fans out there!  Please read and review, even flames are welcome!

Muta: Are you that desperate for reviews?

Me: Yes.

Muta: shakes head you're desperate.

Me: I sure am. And crazy too, 'cause I'm talking with a cat.

Haru: Are you saying that I'm crazy?

Baron: she has better not be…draws out his cane-sword

Me: Huh, my characters are threatening me. Scary. Anyway, on with the story!

Muta: muttering finally…

**Whispers of a distant land: Chapter one**

The exact same day, and as fate would have it, another cat was having problems understanding what was going on, although not quite in the same way as Advisor Natori. As he was slowly sipping at his afternoon tea, Baron let his mind wander back to that adventure four years back, when the Cat Bureau had come to the help of a young woman who had accidentally become embroidered in the Cat Kingdom's intrigues. Baron smiled slightly as he thought of Haru. According to what Muta had told him, the young girl had grown into a fine young woman, even growing a little bit more, which was quite unusual for humans her age, but Baron suspected that it was an after effect of the spell that transformed her into a cat, and back into a human again. At the time, she had been about a head smaller than him, but he suspected that, with these unexpected after-effects, she would more than likely be - in cat-form - only half a head smaller now. _The perfect height_, he thought, before asking himself, quite puzzled: _The prefect height for what?_ Try as he might, he could not answer that question. He sighed as he went to stand near the window. As time passed, he had found himself thinking more and more of Haru, and her confession right before they parted did not help matters.

"_Baron? Just for the record, I think I may have a little crush on you."_

He remembered her words clearly, who wouldn't? It wasn't every day that a cat had someone tell him what they felt for him so clearly, much less when that person was a human girl. Baron sipped a bit more at his now cold tea, but he barely noticed. He wondered if she thought of him as often as he did of her. But no, she wouldn't, would she? It had only been an adolescent crush, nothing really serious. She had probably decided to dismiss the whole adventure as a bad memory, even though she kept talking to cats afterwards. Muta was a proof of that, and she even talked to Toto sometimes. She never talked to him though, or barely. It wasn't really her fault. She had come many times to visit her friends at the Cat Bureau, as often as her university schedule allowed her anyway, but each time he had found an excuse to not be there when she came. It was silly of him, really, but he just couldn't help it. He felt quite uncomfortable at the idea of facing her, and he had no idea why, which was even more frustrating. Once more, he let his mind wander as he watched the sun set upon the Refuge.

Baron wasn't the only one thinking that afternoon. On the other side of the street, another creation with a soul was pacing his room on the first floor of a two story house. The house looked quite cheerful on the outside, with its bright pink and yellow pastels, which greatly annoyed its owner, but if one was to look at any of the windows, they would have the impression of a big dead pit starring right back, for the interior of the house was quite dark and looked quite disordered. In short, the house looked rotten on the inside, as if it's sunny outwards disposition was but a glamour to hide the truth, and, if one knew the owner well, they would have thought that the description fitted him too, for Mr. Fento was always well-dressed in an immaculate black clergyman suit, but on the inside…

Again, it really wasn't Fento's fault. He had been created by a Swiss scientist going by the name of Dr. Finkel, who, of course, created Fento with all his heart (although even I don't know how he managed that, one could barely say that the old man had a heart), hence giving him a soul. Now, every soul that comes into the world - be it human or for any creature, is completely unknowing, and quite naïve. Thus, they depend upon their creator or parents to learn about what is right and what is wrong. Now, most creations that are given a soul can reveal their nature to their owner/creator if they wish to do so, but most of the time they wait some time, in order to learn about themselves and their creator. It is something that most souls, even though naïve at birth, know that they must do. However, Fento was given a particularly naïve soul. So naïve in fact that as soon as he became alive, he revealed himself to his creator, naturally cheerful and happy about having a "daddy", and thinking that the emotion that he felt towards his creator (it was called love, but of course he didn't know that at the time) would be returned.

The problem was that Dr. Finkel was quite an evil and manipulative man, and he soon saw how he could use the poor innocent creature to perform various, less than honorable deeds for him. He used and abused Fento, and soon the creature was not naïve or innocent anymore, but twisted and evil as its creator, although he probably kept loving him somewhere inside, for no matter how hard the Doctor treated him, he would stay by his side. When, eventually, the Doctor died, Fento found his way to the Refuge, after much travels and encounters with a lot of other creatures and Kingdoms of animals. It had been nearly a hundred years now, and Fento wasn't any better now, only more conniving and manipulating, and also, he had recently discovered that he had quite a lust for power. And he had a plan now, a plan that he intended to set in motion quite soon, by using the Kingdom of Cats. Ah yes, the Kingdom of Cats. He had discovered it long ago, during one of his brief passages through Egypt. He had met the ruling Cat Pharaohs, and had been quite interested in them, seeing as he had some cat features himself. He had learned a lot about and through them, and even then he only though of the profit he could gain from such information. Now, the knowledge he had accumulated was coming in handy indeed.

Fento was suddenly distracted from his thoughts by a figure moving on the other side of the street. He peered through the curtains, but quickly retreated back into the shadows when he realized who it was. Baron. That cat and him had never been on good terms, from the very second they saw each other, although they both hid it well. He was about one of the only ones that could see straight through his manners and honey-combed voice, and since Baron was a creation himself, Fento couldn't use his hypnotic watch on him. Fento frowned. Here was an obstacle in his plan he would have to take care of. Not only was the cat immune to his powers, he was also dangerously intelligent and powerful, as well as a friend of the Cat's Kingdom's current ruler, King Lune. If Baron became involved, as he surely would when Fento set his plan in motion, he was sure to thwart all his plans, making all he had worked so hard for fall apart. But how could he get rid of Baron? He wasn't one of those stupid ordinary cats of the Kingdom - although Fento could almost not apply that to the royal family - and he couldn't control him. He was the Joker of the Kingdom, the card no one could control, and the card whose loyalties no one could decide of but himself. In many ways, Baron and him were very much alike, two wild cards, two jokers, one black and one white, in the midst of the ordered set of Cards that were the kingdoms and empires throughout the world of animals, and if they were to be in conflict, it would be an eternal one, for, being creations, they were both immune to the passing of time. Fento was not looking forward to that. He had to find a way to get rid of the annoying cat.

He looked back at the figure on the other side of the street. The cat seemed to be lost in his thoughts, his gaze settled to the west, in the direction of the setting sun. He seemed to be doing that a lot these last four years. But what could be that way that had captured his attention so? Maybe it was something he could use against the cat. Fento thought hard: what was in that direction? And then it clicked. It was where that girl - what's her name? - lived, the one whose story was quite known in the Cat kingdom. But why would Baron think about her? He could barely stand her, although she seemed to like him, as Fento saw things. After all, each time she came, Baron managed to excuse his self, so he couldn't possibly care about the girl, could he? But maybe, just maybe…Fento smirked. He may have found the one card that would remove the white joker from the game. His smile widened as a plan slowly formed itself in his head, and retreated further into the shadows, his white teeth the only visible part in the darkness.

In yet another part of the world, someone else was thinking. King Lune sat at his desk, his expression set in a worried frown. In front of him laid a letter from the Emperor of Birds, Hanakash, the Great Gold Eagle. The letter was about some kind of encounter between the Emperor's son and one of Lune's subjects, a minor fight, as occurred everyday between cats and birds, but this time it concerned the heir, and the Emperor was not happy about it. He demanded justice, although from what Lune's Secret Service had told him the Prince had come out unscathed from the whole thing.

The Empire of Birds and the Kingdom of Cats had never been on really good terms before, and fights often occurred between the two realms, and sometimes resulted into deaths - more often than not on the birds' part, for which Lune was quite sorry, since birds were truly intelligent creatures, on the contrary of mice – but they had always managed to avoid an all out war. Now, from Hanakash's letter, war was quite a possibility, a possibility that Lune would very much like to avoid happening. The perpetrator would have to be punished, and a warning sent to other cats concerning the matter of the heir to the Empire of Birds, but although that would settle the matter, it wouldn't calm down Emperor Hanakash. Lune sighed. He would have to send their new ambassador to talk to the Emperor, in order to avoid war. He sighed again. A quiet rustle made him look up, only to be met by the two blue eyes of his Queen, Yuki. Lune smiled as she came to settle near him.

"Why the worried face?" she asked tenderly as she kissed him.

"Nothing you have to worry about, my love, just a political matter I wouldn't want to burden you with."

Yuki waved a paw in front of his face, a mock-frown on her face: "Ta ta ta Mr. King! You're not playing that game with me! I'm the queen of this kingdom, and as your wife and friend, it is my duty to help you with anything that troubles you!" Lune smiled. "So, what is the problem?"

Lune kissed her. "You're impossible Yuki," he said.

But the queen wasn't easily distracted, especially when she was set upon getting an answer. "What is it?"

The king smiled, shaking his head in mock annoyance while throwing his arms up in surrender. "Alright, alright! I'll tell you!" Yuki smiled in triumph. Lune told her about the whole matter, and Yuki frowned slightly.

"Yes, it is quite worrisome" she finally said. "What do you intend to do about the Emperor?"

"I was thinking about sending our new ambassador, Mr. Fento, to appease him," Lune answered.

Yuki's frown deepened. "I don't trust him" she said. "He gives me the creeps."

Lune chuckled slightly at his wife's choice of words; it was a part of her time as a stray that she didn't seem to be able to get rid of, although he would not have changed it for anything.

"Me too, Yuki, but we don't have much of a choice. Besides, Natori says that he is quite capable, and I trust Natori's judgment. My father chose his advisors well."

"Yes, indeed," and Yuki smiled at the memory of how it was Natori who chose her to serve at the royal table. "If it weren't for him, I would never have met you."

"Indeed," Lune smiled again. He did that a lot whenever Yuki was with him, no matter how burdened he was by the crown's duties. "Now, what did you come here for in the first place? Was there something you needed?"

"Yes," she replied, "you."

"Me?" He feigned surprise.

"Hm hm! You have quite well taken care of your kingly duties, but there are some duties in the husband department that really need your attention."

"In that case, I guess I shall have to look into the matter immediately" he said chuckling, and with that swept her off her feet and walked out of the room and towards the royal chambers, all thoughts of the Emperor's letter gone from his mind. There would still be time for that tomorrow.


	3. Chapter two

Disclaimer: I just realized I didn't post a disclaimer for the first two chapters, so here goes: I don't own "The Cat Returns" (though I wish I did), Studio Ghibli does. Hope it makes up for the other two. Oh, and whatever you don't recognize from the movie is mine.

**Chapter two**

The next day, Fento made his way to the palace, as he had received a letter saying that the king wanted to talk to him. Not that he was particularly respectful of the king, but he wanted to maintain the appearance of the dutiful and loyal ambassador a little while longer. After all, it wouldn't be long until his plan started, so he guessed he could endure all the goodness a bit more. As he proceeded into the King's office, an elegant yet simple room, Fento smiled inwardly. On the table in front of the king was a letter with the unmistakable seal of the Great Gold Eagle. Everything was going according to plan. Fento stopped in front of the king and bowed as respectfully and deeply as he could. It was not the time to mess things up.

"You asked for me, your majesty?" he asked in the best polite voice he could muster.

"Ambassador Fento," the king nodded, "I am in need of your skills."

"Pray tell, your majesty, how can I be of service?"

"I have recently received a letter from Emperor Hanakash of the Empire of Birds, concerning an incident about his heir and one of my subjects. The culprit has already been taken care of, as I'm sure you've heard." Lune crossed his paws in front of him. "However, the matter is not entirely settled. The Emperor is still greatly annoyed at the Kingdom, and could very well be considering war. I want you to go to Raïtal, the Empire's capital, and appease the Emperor. You will be sent with appropriate gifts, and I'm counting on you and your honey-wrapped tongue to bring back peace as much as you can between us. Is everything clear Mr. Fento?"

"Yes your majesty," answered Fento, inwardly boiling at how the king put his intelligence in doubt by that question, but on the outside smiling politely.

"Perfect. Now, I have other pressing matters to discuss with Advisor Natori, but Advisor Natoru" – and Lune gestured to the smiling small brown cat at his left – "will discuss the details of your journey with you, as well as help you with the gifts, since he is to accompany you."

"It is an honor to work with you, Ambassador, and I trust our partnership will bring great profit to the Kingdom." Said the small advisor as he bowed towards Fento.

The monkey creature bowed back, and then both of them bowed to the king and made their way out of the room. As soon as they were out, Natoru began babbling about the journey and all he thought they would be needing, as well as how pleased the king would be when they succeeded in this mission. As the cat kept on talking on and on, and that Fento made all the appropriate noises in all the right places to signal his agreement, the ambassador was refraining from strangling the cat right now and there. That cat and his cheerfulness were so annoying! He silently put him on his list of people to get out of his way. He smiled. The advisor's tragic disappearance while in Raïtal would be the perfect way to push the Cat Kingdom towards war, and he would make sure to provoke the Emperor equally, if not more. Oh yes, there would be war.

A few days later, Natoru and Fento were in Raïtal, capital of the Empire of Birds. They had been fetched by two great albatrosses, the courier birds of the Empire, and transporters when goods or guests had to be brought in from other far away kingdoms for of course, Raïtal was not located in Japan. It was in the forests of South Korea, concealed from human eyes in the highest trees and underneath the deepest roots. Yes, Raïtal was well hidden, and the palace only accessible through the air. A perfectly defendable place from most creatures, but unfortunately not against a creature such as Fento. The ambassador was currently in his room in the palace, overlooking most of the bird-city and looking at the activity of its inhabitants with a knowing smirk. The first two days had been going quite well. The Emperor had received them with all the honors of their rank, and Fento had played his role as ambassador, becoming a quick friend of the Emperor. After only two days, the Emperor was ready to believe anything that Fento told him. _What a birdbrain, literally,_ thought Fento as a small green and red parrot messenger dashed underneath him. _Now I know where the expression comes from_. He smiled again. The Emperor was a handsome gold eagle, strong and proud, as well as quick to anger, a dangerous combination in a ruler, but one that served Fento's designs perfectly. Through careful comments and sentences, he had brought the Emperor right on the brink of the cliff, and all he needed now was a little push and he would fall into the black scheme of war. His appointment with Hanakash today would be the perfect moment. Speaking of which, it was almost time for him to meet with the old fool.

Fento adjusted his shoulder white cape, grabbed his cane and stepped through the door. Unfortunately for him, Natoru was waiting right outside and fell into step with him, for once not babbling too much (Fento guessed that he was nervous, seeing as the Emperor looked quite fierce and was about three times Natoru's size). Fento suppressed a growl of annoyance at the little advisor. He had completely forgotten that the cat was to be at the meeting with the Emperor. No matter, he would take care of him right after he managed to provoke the old coot into war with the Cat Kingdom.

Bearing as well as he could with the brown cat, Fento made his way towards the Royal Gardens - a fancy title in Fento's opinion for a bunch of flowery vines and a few big leaves full of colorful waters, with paths of sculpted branches. Finally, after much twists and turns, as well as the climbing of a few stairs in the palace's maze of trees, the Cat Kingdom's envoys arrived at the Gardens. By now, Natoru had completely stopped talking, for which Fento was grateful. _At least that Emperor is good for something_. Said Emperor was talking to one of his many advisors, a pigeon going by the name of Omar, from what Fento recalled. It was a wreck of a creature, a truly nervous bird, and with some reasons. As annoying as he was, Fento wouldn't be surprised if many hadn't already tried to kill him – or eat him in some cases. The fact that he was advisor to the Emperor, a bird of prey, was a feat in itself. As soon as Hanakash saw them though, he dismissed Omar and turned with a smile to his newest "friend".

"You asked to see us, your majesty?" asked Fento as he bowed with Natoru.

"Ah, ambassador Fento! Yes indeed, I asked for you. I wanted to discuss the matter of the treaty a little further with you. I hope it is not a bother," said the Emperor, completely ignoring Natoru, to the relief of the later.

"Certainly not your majesty, I am at your disposition, as you certainly know," said Fento with a smile.

"Yes, my advisor, Mr. Omar, was just discussing the matter with me, and said that there was a problem with article B, something about the trade routes being awfully dangerous for my people. Would you care to elaborate?"

"Article B you say, your highness? Yes, I remember it, but as far as I know the routes chosen are completely secure. The emissaries from Egypt and England assured us that it was so just recently, and if I recall well…"

As they discussed the Treaty, both walked forward into the gardens, Fento slightly behind the Emperor and Natoru quietly following. After all, he was only there as an envoy, Mr. Fento was the ambassador, and Natoru didn't have to intervene when the creature was doing his job. The day continued forward. By now, only the three of them were in the gardens, left alone by the express orders of the Emperor. It was growing quite hot under the trees of the jungle, and what had to happen, happened.

"I am rather thirsty, Ambassador. Would you like a drink?"

"Certainly your majesty, with pleasure. But, I'm afraid there aren't any servants around, since you dismissed them earlier."

"I'll go and get them for you, if you permit me to do so, your majesty" said Natoru, almost making the two others jump. They had completely forgotten about the small advisor.

"That is a wonderful idea, Mr. Natoru," said Fento, seeing an opportunity to get rid of the cat for a few moments. "Please go get them, the Emperor and I will be waiting right here."

"Hai!" Natoru bowed and quickly left. As soon as the cat was out of sight, the Emperor turned, annoyed, towards Fento.

"Ambassador! I didn't give him permission to leave! You are stepping over my authority!"

"I'm sorry, your Majesty, but I couldn't find any other way to get rid of him," said Fento as he bowed apologetically, "and I had to talk to you privately without the fiend stalking my every move."

"What do you mean?" asked the Emperor, appeased by Fento's words but still annoyed at him.

"I mean, your Majesty, that I have been trying to tell you something of the utmost importance, and with that assassin behind me…"

"Assassin!" the Emperor was bewildered. "That fat little cat is an assassin? He doesn't look like it at all!"

"Yes, I know your majesty, and that makes him even more dangerous. He's been sent here with me to ensure that I would follow the orders King Lune gave me, and to silence me if I tried to warn you of his plans."

"Go on," and the Emperor was now listening intently. As Hanakash leaned forward slightly, Fento inwardly grinned in satisfaction: everything was going according to plan, and even better.

"Your majesty, King Lune is planning to overthrow you and conquer the Empire of Birds. His first try at destabilizing you was the assassination attempt on your son, the Prince. Fortunately, it failed, but in order to prevent you from acting too soon by declaring war on him, he sent me here, his best ambassador, to appease you. As he doesn't trust me, he sent Advisor Natoru along, in fact the Kingdom's best assassin, so that my tongue would not "slip" in your presence. He is planning to assassinate your Majesty right now, as far as I know."

"WHAT!" boomed the Emperor. "No one messes with the Empire! I will teach him a lesson, that "King" Lune! The Empire is going to war!"

"A most wise move, your Majesty, Lune will not see it coming. And I can even help you more on the matter, if you would allow me to make a suggestion or two?"

The Emperor looked back at Fento, the fire of anger burning deep in his eyes. "I'm listening."

"Well, your Majesty, I could go back to the Kingdom of Cats and tell King Lune that my mission was successful. That way, you would have the effect of surprise on your side! But, I would have to get rid of that assassin first."

"My guards can take care of him, but how will you explain his absence to the King?" asked the Emperor, pleased at having such a devoted creature to help him take revenge on the foolish cats.

"I will say that Advisor Natoru was so enchanted by your Majesty and his Realm that he decided to stay a little while longer in the city, of course. No one will suspect a thing, believe me."

"Very well then. I will dispatch one of my personal couriers to carry you back. The attack should be in ten days time, so be ready. I want you to be my advisor when we birds are victorious over the treacherous cats, and it wouldn't please me at all if you were to be killed in the attack."

"I will be sure to do so, your majesty," and Fento smiled widely this time. Things were finally in motion, and there was only one thing, or rather cat, to be taken care of.


	4. Chapter three

Disclaimer: All characters and places from "The Cat Returns" are property of Studio Ghibli. All that you don't recognize is mine though.

**Whispers of a distant land: Chapter three**

**A week later, in Japan…**

As she pushed open the door, letting out an "I'm home!" Haru sighed in exhaustion. It had been a long day at uni, and with the exams coming up she had barely enough time to herself. Her mother was home, working on a new pattern, almost oblivious to her daughter's presence, just like that day so long ago when Haru came home and asked her if she thought cats could talk. Haru shook her head, smiling at her mother. Shizuru really worked too hard sometimes. She heaved herself upstairs and into her much tidier room now that she was 21, depositing with a big "Oof!" her bag on her desk. It really had been a long day after all, so she considered she was allowed to be tired, wasn't she? As she sat on her bed - the chair at her desk being occupied by a pile of books - she heard a crunching noise that would have made her jump three feet in the air instead of simply bolting back on her legs had she not been so tired. _A letter? Who would send me a letter like that?_ She frowned slightly as she looked on the disturbing envelope that was resting on her bed. It had her name written in big flowing script on the cover, in a definitely European style. Who did she know that was from Europe? She frowned at the letter a bit more before the answer downed on her: _Baron!_ Of course, with his british accent, he had to be from Europe in the beginning! Haru nearly tore the letter in half in her excitement before finally settling down enough to actually read the words:

"_Dear Miss Haru,_

_I am truly sorry for barely seeing you during those four years, especially when you took on your time to come and visit us at the Cat Bureau. I would very much like to meet you in the Sakura Park near the fountain, tonight at 9:00 pm. I hope you forgive me and will be there,_

_Baron."_

Haru was floating. Baron wanted to see her! And in such a romantic setting! It was practically a date! She nearly squealed in excitement before remembering that the daring cat was, well, a cat, and that since she was human, it couldn't possibly be a date. He most likely wanted to catch up with her and apologize for his evasive behavior during those years – each time she went at the Cat Bureau, he had either been absent, or simply in a rush to get somewhere and had barely had the time to say hello. Yes, it was most likely to apologize. He was such a gentleman. But no matter, she would be there, if only to see him. Besides, she couldn't possibly let him down, could she? Haru smiled. She wasn't so tired after all.

**Six days before, at the Palace in the Cat Kingdom**

Baron and Toto made their way into the palace and towards the king's office, a serious looking - and seemingly worried - Natoripreceding them at a brisk walk. Finally, they came to the light colored and arched oak doors of Lune's office. Natori knocked politely and waited for an answer before poking his head in and saying: "Your majesty, they're here."

"Well then, come in," came Lune's voice from the other side.

As the three stepped inside, Baron and Toto were astonished to see Lune pacing. He seemed even more worried than Natori, which was something considered almost impossible, although only his pacing and the atmosphere of the room let them in on that, for as a King – and Prince before – Lune knew how to school his face in not showing the emotions he didn't want people to see, and Baron and Toto both knew that the only reason they were allowed to see him pacing was because they were close and trusted friends.

"Ah, my friends, it is good to see you again" Lune greeted them. "Please, have a seat."

"Thank you, it is also a pleasure to see you again," answered Baron as he and Toto sat down in the seats in front of the desk, while Lune settled on the other side, Natori at his side as usual.

"I will be direct my friends, I am in need of your help. The Cat Kingdom is in great danger," declared Lune.

Baron's ears twitched. "How is that so?" he asked.

"Some time ago, there was a slight dispute between the Kingdom and the Empire of Birds. It involved the current ruler's son and one of my own subjects. However, I did not call you for this, as the culprit has already been punished. The problem resides elsewhere. Natori?" Lune turned to his faithful advisor.

Natori nodded and continued: "A few months back, a new ambassador was engaged, by me I'm afraid. We sent him a week ago to Raïtal, capital of the Empire of Birds, in order to appease the Emperor, seeing as he has excellent background in the profession, even if he is not a cat. With him we sent the second advisor to the King, Mr. Natoru. Said ambassador came back a day ago, saying that all went well, and that advisor Natoru had decided to stay a little while longer at Raïtal."

"But you don't trust your ambassador's word for it, do you?" asked Baron as he began to see where all this was going.

Lune nodded. "Yes, and we have serious reasons to think that there is something fishy going on here, seeing - as a first hint – as to how much Mr. Natoru fears the current Emperor, and we would like you to investigate the matter as quickly as possible, and as discretely as is felinely possible. We want you to go to Raïtal and find out what really happened to Advisor Natoru."

Baron looked at them for a moment, although he had already made up his mind. Finally, he said:

"I will need someone to take me to Raïtal," he stated.

"I can do that," said Toto. Everyone looked at him. "What? I'm a bird after all! I know where Raïtal is, and I could help you sneak into the palace, I have some contacts there. Besides, I will be able to take you there more quickly, seeing as I won't get tired as any ordinary bird."

"You would Toto? My, you really are a precious friend, but are you sure you want to do that? It will be quite dangerous, you know," said Baron, arching an eyebrow in question.

"Of course I'm sure! Besides, what other bird will you find that would accept to carry you there, and what more, to cope with you for two whole days of travel!" Toto said as he waved his wings dramatically.

"Well, it looks like matters are settled," said Baron as he turned back to the king and his advisor. "I have one last question though."

"What is it?" replied Lune, quite happy that Baron accepted the mission. He wasn't a citizen of the cat Kingdom after all, and didn't have to follow the king's orders at all. A wild card, in other words.

"What is the name of the creature that is not a cat that managed to become ambassador of the cat Kingdom? It is quite a feat, and I would very much like to know who this individual is."

"I believe you may know him, Mr. Baron," said Natori as he adjusted his glasses, "for he is a creation as you are. His name is Fento."

Baron's fur bristled almost without his accord at the name. Fento! How right Lune was to not trust him! That creature was the most suspicious one Baron had ever met, and the fact that he was the ambassador made him even more suspicious. Something wasn't quite right here. His eyes narrowed.

"You were right not to trust him," he growled. "I don't know what he did this time, and I have no proof whatsoever, but I'm sure now that something isn't right here. I'll investigate the matter and come back as soon as possible. Until then, don't trust anything he says or does, and don't leave him out of your sight! He is possibly one of the most manipulative creatures I've ever had the displeasure of meeting."

With that, Baron got up and, barely remembering to bow, left the room. Toto followed him, but not without saying to the bewildered king and advisor: "If you wanted him to take the mission to heart, you've said the right name. What the results will be though, I can't tell. Baron and that guy Fento can't stand each other."

Tbc…

**Review responses:**

fallenphantom16: Thank you! Reviews like this keep me going! Hope you like the chapter:)

e-chan: I've already written half of the story (I think), but if you want I can add some scenes about Haru. Just send me what kind of stuff you'd like to see, and I'll see if it can be included.

EarthAngel: I'm sorry about the review thing. It's a button that is automatically checked when you begin a story I think. It annoyed me a lot of times for other stories. Thank you, I though it would be a good idea. My first thought actually was to make a "Cat Returns" fanfic, 'cause I think there aren't enough of them.

**Author's note:**

I'll be posting some artwork for this story on my deviantart gallery soon. Here's the link:

http/ellenlome. all those of you who read the story but didn't review, thanks for reading it anyway. Adding a review is even better though -, it makes the author happy and it may get you…get you…uh…..(turns around) hey, you guys got any idea what we could give them if they review more?

Muta: Some angel fruit e-cake?

Ellenlome: Nah, not original enough.

Toto: What about a double posting?

Ellenlome: oh, that sounds good! - Ok, so if you review, you may get two chapters in a row!

Haru: It's kind of rude to ask for reviews like that.

Ellenlome: (makes puppy eyes) you think so?

Baron: well, you're almost bribing them you know.

Ellenlome: Oh, shush! (disappears)

Baron: she can't say that we didn't warn her.


	5. Chapter four

Disclaimer: Do I really have to do it again?...(receives glare from numerous lawyers in black suits standing nearby) Oh well. Not mine, it's all Studio Ghibli's, except for whatever you don't recognize from the movie. (looks at the lawyers) Happy?

Lawyers: (nods happily)

Ellenlome: Creepy….

**Whispers of a distant land: Chapter four**

Two days later, and after a good night's rest, Baron - in a midnight black suit for the occasion - was looking at the close-by city of Raïtal, watching its numerous citizens going about their daily routine. It was obvious however that something was not quite like it seemed, and that all the hustle came from the royal palace. Some time ago, Toto had gone there so he could see his "contact" at the palace. But before Baron could worry any more about his friend, a rustle of feathers made him jump back into the shadows of the tree hole he was hiding in. Sure enough, two birds came in, one a giant crow, and the other what seemed to be a very small, very nervous pigeon. Baron sighed in relief.

"Baron? You there?" whispered the crow.

"Yes Toto, I'm here" said Baron as he stepped out of the shadows. "I assume he is your contact at the palace?"

"Yes," answered Toto. "This is Omar, royal advisor to Emperor Hanakash. I saved his life a few years back, right Omar?"

Said Omar nodded, before saying a bit fearfully: "You didn't tell me your friend was a cat! How do you expect me to sneak in a cat in the palace? What with the war and all that…"

"The war?" Baron queried. This was a new development, but again with Fento involved he shouldn't be surprised.

"Yeah, Omar told me on the way here that the Empire is at war with the Kingdom of Cats. Has been for officially three days now."

"Mmh, right after Fento left the capital. Quite strange that he didn't say any of this to Lune, don't you think?"

"Listen," interrupted the pigeon, "why exactly are you here? I can't stay away from court very long you know, my absence will be noted."

Baron turned his gaze to Omar, his green eyes glowing in the dark and giving him quite a frightening appearance. "We're here because we need information on the visit made by Ambassador Fento a few days ago, and on the current situation in the Empire. Also, the ambassador's companion, Advisor Natoru, didn't come back with him. We believe he is being retained against his will, and his location is all we ask."

The pigeon rubbed his wings together, clumsily trying to mask his nervousness and failing miserably. "This is quite a lot you ask of me; I could loose my position for this. It would be treason, who knows what the Emperor will do if he finds out…"

"Listen," cut off Toto, "do you have the information my friend requested? If you do, and if you don't say any of this to anyone, we won't say anything either and I will consider your debt towards me as paid."

Omar cocked his head to the side, wringing his wings together in what he thought was an attitude of deep thought. On one hand, he risked to have his treason (for that was it) to be discovered and his head quite possibly taken off (he shuddered at the thought), but if he wasn't, then he would be able to live his life peacefully enough afterwards, and would not have anymore contracted debt towards the big crow. On the other hand though, if he did not give them the information they wanted, he was quite certain that the cat would eat him (Baron had no intention of doing so, but Omar didn't know that of course) right here and there, and, being quite the superstitious type, he thought that his soul would then be held in debt eternally to the crow. In both scenarios, his life was at stake, but in one he had a slight chance of survival, albeit a very thin one. As he looked back at the two others, he saw the cat's eyes glow again, with what he thought was hunger. It was all it took to decide the nervous pigeon.

"Alright, I'll help you! But you promise you won't tell anyone, right?" he said finally.

"We promise," said Baron.

"Then wait for me here, I'll go and fetch you a disguise," and with that said the pigeon took flight. As they watched the bird disappear into the traffic of the city, Baron asked Toto:

"Think he could turn us in?"

"Nah, he hasn't got the guts to do it. That pigeon is the worst case of nervous paranoia I've ever seen" answered Toto with a smile.

Toto was right, Omar would not turn them in, although he briefly though of doing so as he flew towards the palace. But no, he couldn't go back now, not when he had already betrayed the Empire. No, he would have to keep to his end of the bargain. Of course, someone other than Omar would have probably surmised by now that if he turned the two companions in right now, he would become a favorite of the Emperor and a hero of his people for putting his life on the line and tricking two dangerous criminals so that he could alert his sire to the impending menace they presented, and also preventing the escape of another (in his mind) dangerous criminal and assassin from the Kingdom of Cats. But of course, Omar didn't think of that. The poor pigeon had had his life in danger (or so he thought) so many times before that he had become completely paranoid about it, and had a way of twisting things around so that he only saw the bad sides of anything. Thus, he didn't think of turning the two in to the guard, and carried his end of the bargain by returning shortly after with what appeared to be a cloak made out of crow feathers.

"What is this?" asked Baron with interest.

"A cloak I wore last year at the Carnival. A brilliant idea of the Emperor where we had to disguise ourselves as another bird. If you wrap yourself in it and lay low on Mr. Toto's back, he can appear to be a slightly deformed crow. No one will notice you."

"Thanks Omar," said Toto, inclining his head slightly to the pigeon. "Now, do you know where Advisor Natoru is being held?"

"Yes, yes, I recall he's been taken to a cell in the dungeon while waiting for the Emperor to decide of his fate."

"The dungeon?" asked Baron. "Where is that?"

Omar pointed to a tangled mass of roots and a dead tree a bit to the right of Raïtal. There seemed to be several grey birds - they were too far away to be identified – patrolling the base of the "dungeon", and on the top of the pile was stationed a lone hawk, no doubt as a sentry.

"That's the dungeon?" asked Toto. "Doesn't look very big, you guys must not have a lot of criminals around here."

"The real dungeon is underground," replied Omar, "what you see is but the entrance. And if you are to get inside, you'll have to get past the guards and Amiki, the hawk."

"Hm, we could try a night entry," mused Toto as he flapped his wings in annoyance.

"You would get caught!" cried Omar.

"Why is that?" asked Baron.

"At night, Amiko, an owl, is the sentry. Nothing escapes his gaze!"

"Really?" Baron replied with some interest. "And I suppose the change in sentry takes place at sunset?"

"Of course, there is no other time," answered Omar, obviously proud at something, although they had no idea what.

"Hm. Well then, I suppose that all you have left to do is to tell us everything you know about Ambassador Fento's visit then, and about this war the Empire seems to be planning."

Omar was more than eager to get rid of them, and proceeded to tell them everything he knew. When he left an hour later, the two friends had a much better understanding of the situation. They had to grant Omar that: he was a great history teller.

"What do you plan to do?" asked Toto when the pigeon was gone.

"Wait," came the reply.

"Wait! Is that all? What for?"

"Wait until sunset, when the sentry change takes place. If I am correct, the hawk will be too tired from his day and intent on looking for his replacement to be vigilant and the owl will still have the light of the sun disturbing his vision. It will be the perfect time for us to sneak in."

"And what of sneaking out?" asked Toto, still a bit worried about the whole thing.

"I guess I'll have to think about that. When I come up with something, I'll tell you."

Toto rolled his eyes. He knew he wasn't going to get anything else out of him until sunset. _Guess I will just have to wait then_. And with that they settled down, watching how the guards patrolled around the dead tree. With some luck, they would find a dead angle from which they could swoop in when the time came.

**Review responses: **

Earthangel: Thank you so much! (blushes furiously) I'm your favorite author? Wow. Cool. Thanks. Anyway, I can't answer your question, but I think the next two chapters should help you with it. - (hint, hint) Oh yeah, I'm doing a double posting, just for you! Hope you like it! ;)

**Author's note:**

Yeah, I know, I'm evil. You guys are probably cursing me for cutting right now, but I promise there's more to come! See! Another chapter! Double posting! Yeah! - (all the characters in the background have big sweat drops on their heads).

Muta: I think you're scaring them.

Ellenlome (kid voice like): I am?

Muta: Yup.

Ellenlome: (pouts)

Haru: She's on sugar high.

Baron: Not that she's any different when she's not.


	6. Chapter five

Fento: Oh, look! Another disclaimer!

Baron: (grumbling) already? Didn't we have one already?

Muta: (popping out of nowhere) Yeah, but t'was for the other chapta'. And why do I speak with an American accent?

Ellenlome: 'cause I decided so.

Muta: Oh yeah, and since when do you control me!

Haru: She's the author, she does whatever she wants.

Toto: She's got a point Fatso.

Muta: (stomps over to Toto) FATSO!

Toto: (goes into Tare-form) Meep! (takes off flying)

Muta: (runs after the crow)

Ellenlome: these two…

Fento: (painting white roses in red) Are they gone already?

Baron: Sure looks like it. (looks at what Fento is doing) And why are you doing that?

Fento: (whispering) The red queen will have my neck if I don't!

Haru and Baron: (look at each other, then start backing away) Oookay…(disappear)

Ellenlome: (takes a look at grinning Fento) I think I'll second that. (fades away in the background)

Fento: (keeps painting the roses, then stops as he realizes he's not alone) (looks over his shoulder at the readers) Why are you all still there? Shoo! Go read the chapter!

White Rabbit: (runs while consulting his watch) You're late! You're late! (keeps running until he is no longer in sight)

Fento: Oh, right. The disclaimer. Ellenlome doesn't own anything recognizable from "The cat returns", it belongs to Studio Ghibli. She does own me and a few other things in this story though.

Random dust bunny: That was a boring disclaimer…

**Whispers of a distant land: Chapter five**

Hours later, sunset finally came. The two companions were ready, Baron had put on his "cloak" and was lying on Toto's back, with only his eyes showing from underneath. To anyone, they would appear as an old deformed crow. Some minutes ago, Toto had started doing some lazy and apparently pointless circles in between the trees, sometimes coming closer and sometimes moving away from the prison, although always in the general direction of it. At the beginning, Amiki had looked at them with a latent interest (you didn't see a deformed crow everyday, after all), but now that he had got a good look at the strange bird for several minutes, his gaze had wandered back to the left, where Amiko came from when it was his time to take on watch duty. Amiki knew it was a bad habit he was taking, but he couldn't help to focus in that single direction for the last minutes of his watch, eager to get home and have something served to him by his servants. Finally a grey dot appeared in the distance, and Amiki's head snapped in its direction. It was what Toto and Baron had been waiting for.

Be it by luck or by their careful planning, no one saw the "hunched" crow suddenly dive to the entrance and fly in like a moving shadow.

Toto stopped short as soon as they were inside and past the first turn, and the pair finally got a good look at the place. They were in what they assumed was the ground level of the prison. Directly in front of the entrance corridor and on their left was a low square door that most likely gave onto the barracks and the officers' quarters, they had surmised, were right above these, into the tree itself. On both side of that door, two twin and enormous tunnels dove into the ground.

The two looked for a second, and then moved forward, down into the tunnel on the right. As they proceeded onwards, the darkness deepened, and soon they were in a patch of complete darkness. But a meter or two away the light came back, in the form of phosphorous mushrooms, placed at regular intervals on both sides of the tunnel. Deeper and deeper they went, not encountering any guards. Toto thought this suspect and mentioned it to Baron, but the cat said that it was traditional in the Empire's culture to have a change of guard right after sunset, which was quite logical since they had a fresh sentinel that had just been posted and would alert them as soon as he spotted something suspicious. Luckily for the two, the "something suspicious" that they were had managed to sneak in unseen by both sentries.

Finally, after much walking, they came to a level, where the corridor branched off into multiple small tunnels, each of them having rows and rows of small doors on each sides.

"Wow, guess I shouldn't have said they didn't have many criminals," breathed Toto.

"The Empire of Birds is one of the largest out there," said Baron absently as he examined the panels hung over each of the tunnels, "It is quite normal for such a large society to have a lot of criminals, in proportion with the size of the Empire. Toto, can you decipher these signs? I'm afraid I don't have any skills in claw-script."

Toto came closer, looking at each sign. "Which cell did Omar say the advisor was in?" he asked finally.

"I believe he said: 'Hawk-claw, 131 b'" answered Baron, slipping his cane under his arm.

"Then it should be this way," said Toto as he motioned to the third corridor on their left.

Quietly, they proceeded forward. They did not want to alert the other prisoners to their presence. They would most likely turn them in to the guards. However, Toto couldn't help to sometimes peep into one or two cells. Fortunately for them, the ghastly light of the mushrooms gave his feathers a grey tint that made the few that looked up mistake him for one of the guards. But as they preceded forward and past cell number 100, Toto noticed something odd.

"Baron, all the cells since the 100th one are empty," he whispered.

"I suppose that this is where they keep the most dangerous criminals," answered Baron, glancing at his friend. "Or the ones they most likely want to forget in their cells to perish. Since Advisor Natoru is considered, according to Mr. Omar, a dangerous assassin, I would guess that this is the appropriate section."

Toto looked at him for a minute, eyes wide, before saying as he hung his head: "Baron, I've known you for a long time now, but your mind always amazes me."

"Thank you, Toto. But I believe we've reached our destination already."

And it was true. In front of them was a lone door, the last one in the tunnel, labeled (in what Toto could decipher of the faded script) 113. No b or a whatsoever, which was quite surprising. Toto shrugged and Baron called:

"Advisor Natoru? Advisor? Are you there?"

From the other side of the thick door, a very recognizable voice answered: "Who…who is it?"

"It is nice to hear you're alive, Advisor. It is Baron, from the Cat Bureau. We've been sent to rescue you."

"Baron? Is that really you? Oh, the great cat-Lord be praised, someone came for me."

"Who's that?" asked another voice - female no doubt - from inside the cell.

"That's Baron, the one I told you about!"

"That's the one? A pleasure to meet you sir, although I would very much like to see your face soon," continued the female voice.

"Most certainly Madam," answered said cat, still the gentleman. "If you would give me a moment, please."

With that Baron proceeded to pick the lock with a set of lock picks he had taken out of his inner pocket. Toto was quite astonished at this new skill of his friend, but knew better than to say anything. Baron would explain when he felt like it, no sooner. Soon after, they heard a soft click, and the door swung inwards under the push of Baron's hand. It creaked on its hinges, the sound painfully loud in the silence of the deeper tunnels. This cell seemed a bit larger than the others, and with reason: it had two occupants, a small brown cat, and a large white eagle. The former bounced forward to the two companions, but could not reach them restrained as he was by chains at the ankles.

"Let me help you with that," said Baron as he stepped to the advisor, quickly picking the lock of the chains.

"Thank you!" exclaimed Natoru. "Would you please do the same for Miss Myril?" he nodded towards the eagle, who had been watching with interest.

Baron turned his attention to the eagle: "May I inquire as to who you are, miss?"

The eagle chuckled. "You may. I'm Myril of Clouded Tops, the sea eagle."

"The guards put me in this cell and didn't feed us for a few days, expecting for Miss Myril here to eat me, which I am extremely grateful she didn't."

"How could I? Besides, I only eat fish, and rarely any other meat," said the eagle, Myril.

"That makes you a friend in our eyes," said Baron as he unlocked her chains. "A pleasure to meet you, miss Myril of Clouded Tops."

"Oh please call me Myril that title doesn't mean anything now."

"Then please call me Baron. Most find my full name too complicated to use in common conversation, including myself."

They all chuckled slightly at that.

"So, Baron," said Toto, "any idea as to how we're going to get out of here?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid we'll first have to do something with Myril's white feathers."

"My feathers? What's wrong with their color?" asked Myril, taken aback.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that they are a bit too visible for my plan to work." And with a smile Baron proceeded to tell them exactly what his plan was.

Advisor Natoru had never been the sportive type, much less the kind of cat to take risks, and it was why he was asking himself what in the name of the great cat-lord he was doing here, making his way towards the entrance as quietly as possible - alerting whatever guards were in the barracks was not part of the plan - ready to shout at the guards outside. _Why did it have to be on my record that I attended drama school, why? Now I'll have to do this insane plan of the baron's to the end. Oh, if only Baron didn't have a look in my records, if only I hadn't told them that when I was engaged, I may not be in this situation now, Oh! _Natoru wriggled his paws together in a last attempt to shy away his nervousness. Not even the Emperor had managed to make him that nervous. Finally, with a deep breath, Natoru stepped forward and into the dim light of the entrance.

The guards of Raïtal's prison weren't any ordinary birds. No, they were a special breed, a cross between a fighting cock and a long-necked grey hawk (a very rare species, the kind that only lived in the city and were well concealed from human eyes by their fellow bird caretakers). They could see well during the day, and not too badly during the night, had a long retractable neck and long legs to run fast with very dangerous-looking talons. Never before had they failed at their task as guards of the dungeons, for never before had a prisoner managed to escape, which is probably one of the reasons they were so astonished at seeing the criminal Natoru come out into the open and openly defy them with a "Hey you Birdbrains! I escaped your stupid prison, what do you say to that!" Now, the guards aren't stupid, just very quick to anger, a particular trait to their breed that their caretakers were trying to eradicate, and so when called birdbrains (a very bad insult to a bird. Toto never really reacted to being called a birdbrain by Muta, since they were, despite all appearances, great friends and both knew that it was just to joke) they reacted quite violently and most of them shot out after the terrified Natoru who dashed back inside and to the right, expecting to loose them into the maze of the tunnels. What a fool! Did he really expect to outrun them, much less loose them in the maze they themselves had constructed?

Of course, what they didn't know was that Natoru didn't keep running for long. He stopped as soon as he came into the deep shadow of that part of the tunnel, placating himself against the wall with the friends he knew were there, and holding his panting breath in as long as he could feel the air moving with the running guards. Now, one thing that was really interesting with the tunnel and that wasn't mentioned at the beginning was its many turns, as well as infrequent areas of darkness. This led the guards quite far before they realized they had been tricked and that the prisoner wasn't actually before but behind them. By the time they came back, Baron and Co. had collapsed the tunnel and, after knocking down the few remaining guards, flown out and away from the city, south towards the sea and Japan.

As they flew onwards (Natoru was being carried by a very cheerful Myril), Toto was torn between congratulating Baron on their escape, or simply berate him for not thinking of a better plan. When they finally stopped for rest, the sun was rising and the sea was right in front of them. Depositing her charge in a tall tree, Myril soon excused herself and went fishing (she hadn't had a decent fish for years, poor creature). They didn't sleep long, all of them too nervous at being captured, or, in the case of Baron, quite worried about Haru.

Effectively, the cat advisor had told them of a "farewell" visit Fento had given him, and how he had ranted about his plan (albeit very briefly, thank the Lord he wasn't one of those I-give-you-a-monologue villain type) and as to how he was happy to finally have the thorn in his side that was Natoru out. He also talked about another thorn that he would take care of as soon as he came back, and from his attitude Natoru could tell that he was talking about Baron. Said cat knew that Fento lived (ironically enough) on the other side of the little plaza of the Refuge for Creations, and thus had been witness to Haru's visits, as well as his own behavior towards the human. Baron didn't doubt a second (although he never told the others) that Fento had seen straight through his attitude like he did for him. Yes, he had finally admitted to himself that he cared quite deeply for the human, and if Fento had come to the same conclusion…He shuddered at the consequences.

As they flew onwards, Baron's thoughts were focused solely on one person: _Haru…_

**Author's note: **here is the promised second chapter:) Ok, as you can all see, I've decided to have a bit of fun with the disclaimers. And yes, I'm insane, and the disclaimers will probably get worse, for anyone who's wondering. :) Also, the Red Queen and the White Rabbit are from Alice in Wonderland, and that belongs to Lewis Carol. Hope you're enjoying the story so far! -

P.s: If you're reading this Crimson Starlight, I hope I didn't accidentally copy one of your disclaimers! I just found them funny and thought I'd do my own.


	7. Chapter six

Ellenlome: (jumps out of a cyber-bush dressed in a fancy costume of a, well, bush ranger. Haha, cheap joke) Ya!

Muta: (reading the newspaper) You're not scaring anyone kiddo.

Ellenlome: Kiddo! (looks outraged) I'm turning 19 in two weeks! Bleh! (stucks out her tongue)

Muta: I would never have guessed it by the way you're acting.

Ellenlome: Ack! Shut up! I do whatever I want fatso!

Muta: fatso again! Can't you find something new?

Ellenlome: Mmmh…No! You're too much fun to annoy fatso! (cackles)

(Muta and Ellenlome keep bantering)

Baron: (stepping in through a pink door) Hum, aren't you forgetting something?

Muta and Ellenlome: (stop fighting) What? (eyes wide)

Baron: (cough) disclaimer (cough)

Ellenlome: Oh. Right.

Muta and Ellenlome: (go back to insulting each other)

Baron: (sighing) Ellenlome doesn't own "The cat returns". She only owns the plot of this story and all original characters in it.

Fento: (holding a purple…thing and running in trough a random trapdoor) Like me! (starts giggling maniacally)

Baron: (suspiciously) Are you on a sugar high?

Haru: (fading in) He must be. He just had a whole box of chocolate chip cookies, and I believe it is the lady's shawl he's currently holding in a vice-like grip.

Fento: (still giggling) Oh, vice-like grip! I like that! Sounds funny! (keeps rambling on how funny it is to say vice-like grip in between nervous giggles)

Haru: it's a good thing he's already half mad in the story, 'cause I don't think he can get any worse.

Baron: who's that lady anyway? Never heard of her before.

Haru: Oh, she's the one that s…

Ellenlome: (jumps out of her "fight" with Muta and tackles Haru) Sshh! Ya'll spoil the fun! (turns to the readers) Anyway guys, just wanted to tell you that this chapter has some violence in it, so if anyone doesn't like it don't read it! You've been warned!

Baron: she is desperate…(hangs his head)

Muta: I could have told you that looong ago!

**Whispers of a distant land: Chapter six**

**Present time, Japan**

"Mo-om! I'm going out!" called Haru as she ran down the stairs, barely avoiding colliding with a small table.

"Honey, isn't it a bit late?" asked her Mum, leaning out of the door of the kitchen/dining room. "And where are you going at this hour?"

"To the park! Hiromi, uh, asked me to meet her there earlier. Said she had something important to tell me."

"Oh. Alright. I'll see you later then, be careful."

"Will be," and with that Haru dashed through the door, a happy and stupid smile on her face. She knew it was stupid, but she just couldn't help it.

As she passed the two cats lying on the sidewalk as usual, she called a greeting, although she knew they would more than likely not hear her, or just plain ignore her. She didn't mind though. Cats were like that, and she wasn't one to complain about their mysterious demeanor.

Haru was almost bouncing now. If it weren't for the many strange stares she would receive from the numerous passersby (not that she cared about what they thought, but they would most likely delay her if too concerned for what would appear to be a slightly crazy woman) she was sure she would be dancing right now. She actually had no idea why she was acting like that. If Hiromi was there, she would have most likely said that Haru was acting like a love struck teen. Of course, Haru wasn't love struck. Nope. She was just happy at seeing a good friend. Nothing more. Of course she had had a crush on Baron when she was seventeen, but one couldn't possibly have a crush for four years straight on, especially when one had a crush on a member of an entirely different species. As Mochita, Baron had helped her get through a period in her life, helping her grow up, become more mature, and for that she was grateful. Her adventure with the cats had brought her so much…It had been tough on her, she had been transformed into a cat, almost got married to the prince of cats and barely escaped before it was too late for her to change back. And even then she had fallen from the sky, only to be saved by crows. She had done things that she was pretty sure not many people (if at all) had done, and, more important than that, she had made great and unique friends in the persons of Muta, Toto and Baron.

Friends. _Yes, that's what we are, and I'm glad for it._ Haru had told herself that so many times during those four years, it had almost become a ritual to do so each time her thoughts wandered a bit too much for her taste. It had kept whatever else they would have led her to at bay. But it didn't keep the painful stabs she felt in her chest each time she did so; it never did. Even now, it was hurting, but she dismissed it again as joy at seeing a friend, and that was the end of it. _Then why does it feel like I'm lying?_ Haru shook her head, it wasn't the time to become lost in her thoughts, and she had someone to meet.

Haru began humming a song as she kept on walking. It was a song whose singer she couldn't remember, entitled "_Dead was the day she walked"_. She didn't know why she was singing that song, it was highly inappropriate for the occasion, so she stopped and sang _"The Reason"_, by Hoobastank. She loved that song. She had gotten out early, so she had plenty of time to reach the park. She walked.

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Fento took a sharp turn and quickly melted into the shadows of a porch. Soon after, the two cats the Cat Kingdom's intelligence service had set on his tail passed him in a rush, intent on not loosing their charge. _Finally, I'm rid of these two!_ They had been following him for the past week; no doubt the King had decided to do so right after an advice from Baron. Oh yes, Fento knew perfectly of the visit that had occurred, and he was now more than set upon removing the damn cat from the game. But first, he had to lure Baron to him, and for that the bait had to be set, which was not possible with these two as his assigned shadows. _But now that they are gone…_Fortunately, he wasn't far from the home of one of his contacts, a rat going by the name of Trash.

Trash…was a very peculiar individual. He lived in an old forgotten bin, hence his name, in an abandoned backyard. The rat wasn't particularly bright, but he would do anything for some promised food, you didn't even have to have the food with you. Trash trusted people, a trait that Fento abused many times in the past. Thankfully for Fento, another trait of Trash was that his memory didn't last more than three days.

Sure enough, the old rat accepted to deliver the letter that Fento had written back at his office for just a spare cracker that the monkey-creature had on him (he had no idea whatsoever how the cracker was in his pocket in the first place, but really he didn't care), and for some promised cheese accepted to let Fento stay in his "home" for a few hours and not to tell anyone of his presence. Fento could barely stand the stench, but he didn't have much choice. Besides, if all went well, he wouldn't have to worry about being found for much longer. The attack of the birds on the Cat Kingdom would soon happen, and then…

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Muta was grudgingly walking up the streets of the small town on all fours. He had fallen asleep (the sun was really hot, and that chair had looked like the perfect spot for a nap at the time), and didn't realize before it was too late that the damn monkey (Fento) had left his home. If he didn't find him soon, Muta was sure that Baron would berate him for not doing as he was asked, and he wasn't even thinking about all the mocking he would have to endure from that birdbrain of a crow! Muta didn't know why, but he suddenly had the urge to go to the nearby park. He turned. His instincts were never wrong anyway, and they told him something fishy was afoot. He walked.

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_Faster, faster, faster, faster, FASTER! _Baron was practically screaming the word in his head now. Toto, Natoru, Myril and him had been flying at incredible speed - even using some transporting magic, courtesy of Natoru (they had all wondered why he hadn't used that to escape, until Myril told them that Raïtal was warded against outside magic) - for the past two days, the two birds feeling the urgency in Baron's attitude, flying towards Japan, and towards Haru. Baron had the feeling that she was in great danger. He didn't know how he knew this, nor did he care. He knew, and that was all that mattered.

Aside from being worried almost to death for Haru, Baron was lost in an inner turmoil. He knew he cared for her, but when did he start developing such strong feelings for her? He remembered that he had missed her dearly after their adventure in the Kingdom. _No, it started before that. _When then? When she had come to the Bureau for the first time, he had found her pretty, and had been quite sure that she would grow into a beautiful young woman. His insight had been right, as proved later as he watched her grow into the woman she now was. But that had nothing to do with what he felt for her, or has it? Baron resisted the urge to scream in frustration. He couldn't even figure that out. He could never think straight whenever she was near; even though he was quite sure it hadn't been so four years back.

The cat figurine thought harder. And then he remembered. She had just turned eighteen – three years or so ago – and Muta and Toto had finally managed to drag him into making a small celebration for her. A "coming to age" party as they had called it. Haru hadn't yet made any visits to the Bureau at the time, what with all that had happened and her final year in school, plus all the changes (both in mind and in her life) that she had made. She had been "rediscovering life and my friends" as she had called it herself on one of the brief times he talked to her after that. But he was wandering off the subject. At the party (held in the plaza) when he saw her after a whole year, he was…surprised…to find out that the teenage girl had grown into a very beautiful and mature woman, even more so than what he had imagined. Not only that, but the wonderful personality that he had had a glimpse of back at the Cat Kingdom had completely hypnotized him. Yes, hypnotized was the right word. He couldn't keep his gaze to wander back to her throughout the whole day, and had seen her blush quite a few times when she had caught him watching her. Baron smiled slightly at the memory, despite the seriousness of the current situation. He knew, of course, that she had had a crush on him, but that she still had it after a year, he had found it – and still did – quite endearing, if not amusing. She had changed so much in such a short time. He had watched her go through the ordeal with cats, and the results had started to show full force. _Yes, things definitely changed after that. _He started to watch her differently after that day, and he knew it, but he just couldn't put his finger on what it was. His feelings were still quite unsure about the whole matter. He had seen plenty of young girls grow up into young women since he was created, but, somewhere, somehow, Haru was different. _If only I knew why…_

A sharp turn of Toto on the winds brought him out of his thoughts and back to the situation at hand. It was no time for dallying around. Haru was in danger. _Faster, faster, faster, faster!…_The litany came back as the group flew on in the cold night air.

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The night was cool, and as she passed between the gates of the park Haru inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the sakura trees and the gentle wind blowing on her face and through her short chocolate hair. She was not the only one taking advantage of the wonderful night. Many people were present, many couples holding hands. A few kids walked holding their parents' hands tight, or were carried when too tired to keep running around after the festivities of the evening. The young woman smiled.

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"We're here!" yelled Toto over the roar of the wind.

"Get down!" replied Baron. Nodding, Toto slowed down until finally coming to a stop on Haru's windowsill, followed closely by Myril who perched herself on the fence, much to the interest of the cats talking on the roadside.

"Is Miss Haru here?" asked Natoru, clutching tightly to Myril's feathers (he was afraid of heights, one of the reasons he hadn't really liked the idea of going to Raïtal).

"The room looks empty," answered Toto, "and the rest of the house is silent."

"Haru's mother seems to have gone to sleep already, but where is Haru?" murmured Baron.

"No idea," said Toto.

"She went out about an hour ago," said a new voice. The group turned to the one who had spoken. The brown and white cat was eyeing them, his head cocked to the side. The crow descended to the sidewalk, and Baron hopped off his back, asking: "Do you know where she went? It is a matter of utmost importance."

"Sure, I think I overheard her telling her mother she was going to the park, which one I don't know though," answered the grey cat.

"I think she had a meeting with her friend, the one with the short hair," continued the first cat.

"She was lying though, we could smell it," said the grey one.

Baron's fur bristled. Something was definitely not right here. If it wasn't with Hiromi, who did she have a rendezvous with? Was it a romantic escapade? He felt a twinge of jealousy for a moment when he realized that she was with another man, most likely. This should have calmed him, but instead the feeling of danger increased tenfold.

"Thank you, you have been most helpful," said Baron. "Is there anything else that you could tell us that would help us locate which park she went to?"

"Mh, maybe," said the brown and white after some time. "She went in that direction," he pointed a paw to the right, "and there's only one park that way. You can't miss it; it's got huge sakura trees in it."

"Thank you," said Baron as he took off on Toto's back, not even sparring a second to grab hold of the feathers.

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Haru finally arrived at the fountain she thought the rendezvous was at, but she quickly realized that it wasn't so. There were lots of people there, and she was sure that Baron didn't want to be seen by any other humans. She hung her head in shame. The fountain he had been speaking of was most likely the abandoned one, at the other end of the park. No one went there anymore, and wild grass had invaded the area. Sighing, she made her way there. She was going to be late after all.

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Fento consulted his pocket watch. 9:20 pm. She was late. And here he had thought that she would be so eager to meet her baron that she would practically run here. The cat figurine was no idiot; he would be coming to save his precious human when he found out she was missing. Yes, he would kidnap the foolish woman, and when the cat came for her, he would kill him.

Fento lightly fingered the small silver crossbow in his hand. It only had one bolt in it, but it was coated with a most powerful tranquilizer. A single shot in the right spot and the human would be in Morpheus' hands for the next twenty-four hours.

A twig snapping to the left made him retreat into the shadows; it would be no good to be discovered before hand. Then he smiled. The human was there. Fento slowly adjusted his aim.

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_Where is she?_ Baron was scanning the park beneath him and his friends. He hoped the two old cats had been right in their assumption that it was the one Haru went to. If not, they would be too late. Baron did not want to think about that.

"There she is!" cried Natoru, pointing to a small clearing a bit to their left and ahead of them. He then waved his paw enthusiastically: "Miss Haru, Miss Haru!"

"She's not alone!" yelled Myril. "There is someone else in the shadows of the bushes!"

Sure enough, the light reflected upon a small silver object, a shape familiar to Baron…his eyes widened in recognition, and he yelled, as loud as he could:

"HARU!"

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"Baron!" Haru turned around at hearing his voice in the opposite direction to the fountain. As she did so, she heard a thud behind her, and in the bark of the tree she had been standing near was embedded a small green bolt! She jumped even more when she heard someone curse not too far away from her.

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Fento cursed with all the swear words he knew from around the world. Not only had he missed his shot, but that damn Baron was back sooner than he thought! No matter, he would get the woman; the bolt wasn't the only weapon he carried. As he stepped into the light, he took out a long blade from within his cane. It wasn't the first time the weapon would see blood, nor was it the last. Fento smiled, but the girl had already ducked behind the fountain.

But she was no match for Fento. As hard as she ducked and turned, she couldn't escape him, and soon a crimson line could be seen on Haru's arm. Of course, that was Fento's first wrong move. As he moved to strike the wounded woman, another cane-sword got in his way. Fento stopped short.

"Baron," he growled.

"Fento," was the reply. It took all of Baron's self control not to follow his anger; he knew it would lead to his death if he did. But nothing stopped him from baring his fangs at the monkey-creature, and his green eyes ordinarily so kind had taken on a hard quality to them, reduced to two glowing slits in the shadow of the trees.

For a minute or two, both creations stood eyeing each other, assessing their opponent's strengths and weaknesses. Baron slowly held up his sword. Both opponent's muscles tensed, and then…all that could be seen were a white and a black blur, sometimes resuming into Baron and Fento when they briefly parted, but soon gone again, too quick for the eye to follow.

"Haru, Haru! Are you all right?" asked Toto as he landed on the rim of the fountain near her (Baron had jumped directly when he saw Fento attack Haru).

"Yeah, I'm alright, it's just a scratch. Toto, what's going on?" she asked as she tried to follow the moves of the two creations. She could only see moving blurs though.

"Baron is fighting Fento for you. Yay! That's the way to show him Baron!"

"You can see them, Mr. Toto?" asked a bewildered Natoru.

Haru turned in shock: she hadn't noticed the small cat. "You again!" She then saw the eagle. "And who are you?"

"I'm Myril, nice to meet you," said Myril as she bowed.

Haru bowed back.

"It's a long story as to why we're here, Miss Haru, but I'm sure that as soon as Baron is finished with Fento he will tell you all about it," said the advisor. He then turned to Toto: "Since you can see them, can you tell us what is going on?"

"I can't really tell very well; the only reason I'm able to see them at all is because I'm a creation myself. From what I see, they seem to be going all out. But none of them is at their maximum yet."

"What do you mean Toto?" asked Haru as she strained her eyes to try and see the Baron.

"I mean that I've seen Baron use all his capacities in a fight before. What you are witnessing right now is nothing compared to an all out battle between immortals."

There was a loud sound, of steel on steel, and the white blur was projected on a tree, resuming into the limp form of Baron. Haru started towards him, but the cat was already back on his feet and into the fight. Haru blinked. She hadn't even seen him move. How many other powers did Baron have that she did not know about?

"Don't try to help him, Haru," said Toto, "you would only hurt yourself and get him in trouble. We can't do anything but wait for the outcome."

Haru nodded, thinking on all the new information she had just been given. And, looking back at the battle, she thought: _Immortals…?_

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Baron's blood was boiling in cold anger. How dare he! How dare he harm the one he loved! Yes, he knew he loved her now. He had always loved her; it had probably been love at first sight as things were. Realization had downed on him when Fento had struck her. The sight of her blood had nearly made him go mad with rage. He believed his senses left him there, and the next thing he knew he was off Toto's back and blocking Fento's strike. As soon as he realized what he was doing, his consciousness jumped in, not dulling his anger, but working with it. He had known that state but once before, when anger was giving him all the strength he needed and made his senses sharper than the blade of his sword, making him a dangerously strong and intelligent opponent.

He lightly jumped out of the way as Fento trusted his sword forward, bringing down his own sword from the right side. But the monkey-creature had foreseen the move and rolled out of the way, sweeping at Baron's legs in the motion. Baron jumped up, and then leapt forward. Steel caught on steel. Strike, parry, duck, roll, strike again, jump, swipe to the right, trust, roll, spin around and strike the middle section from the left. Sweat was rolling in his eyes, adrenaline strong in his blood. Block, strike, block, swipe, duck and twist. Steel on steel, two wild cards. Strike and parry, feint to the left, roll and swipe at the legs. It was almost a dance now. Both opponents had torn clothes, tinted red in numerous places. A few drops of blood fell on the Sakura petals, unnoticed. Duck, trust, jump and strike, jump again and block.

Baron had no idea how long they had been fighting. It could have been hours, it could have been mere seconds. But he knew that he couldn't keep on fighting like that for eternity. Adrenaline was keeping him up right now, but his strength would soon leave him. He had to make a move. Feigning exhaustion catching up to him, Baron slowly fell into a defensive pattern. But he was far from exhausted, and it wouldn't take long for his opponent to realize that he was faking. He would have to find an opening soon.

And then, he found one. Fento had let his guard down a millisecond in order to strike Baron in the shoulder, something that he would never have done hadn't his hate for the cat figurine blinded him to the act Baron had been putting up. Quicker than lightning, Baron ducked lightly to the right and, twisting his blade around his nemesis', disarmed him, bringing down the sword on the now unprotected wrist and incapacitating his enemy to fight with a sword ever again. Fento fell to his knees, clutching his arm in pain, a low growl of pain and frustration mingled escaping his clenched mouth.

"I win," Baron said simply as he stopped barely three paces away from his vanquished opponent.

"You may have won today, but in the long run, it is I who will stand over all," said Fento as he lifted his gaze to the baron.

The cat figurine frowned slightly. Advisor Natoru, with the help of Myril, would warn the Cat Kingdom of the impending attack by the birds, and Baron knew that cats were good at diplomacy if anything, so they would most likely find a way to settle the matter of the war without shedding any blood, so what did Fento mean by that?

"I see I've confused you. But I can tell you the answer isn't that hard," and at that Fento smiled, showing very sharp teeth indeed. "Actually, I can tell you that it is NOW!"

The monkey creature jumped forward, pushing past Baron that he forced out of his way with a dagger that barely missed him, scratching him slightly instead of the full blow the cat should have received, and disappeared into the night.

"Baron!" cried Haru, finally able to see the state he was in. "Are you all right?"

"I believe I am, Miss Haru."

Toto looked in the direction the monkey-creature had disappeared. "Too bad, we can't catch him now."

"Hey, did you guys loose that thing? I found him trying to run away," came a gruff voice.

"Muta!" Haru smiled, she hadn't seen the fat cat for some time now.

"Hey, you caught him! Guess a fatso is useful sometimes!" cackled Toto, happy at seeing the white cat stride in, holding a very much raging Fento by the collar, dagger gone and a definitely black eye starting to appear. He even had a split lip, and for once Haru didn't feel sorry for a wounded someone.

"Shut up you birdbrain!" replied Muta. "Hey, Baron! You alright? Quite a nasty gash you've got one your arm."

"It's just a scratch Muta, nothing more than a scratch." And then he collapsed.

Tbc…

**Author's note:**

Here you go! An extra long chapter to make up for my long absence! Hope you liked it. And yes, I'm evil, 'cause things are far from finished for the poor couple. (grins evilly) Anyway, that chapter was far longer than I expected. My muses just wouldn't leave me alone, and kept waking me up at 2 am for three days straight until I finished this. (glares at muses) which is quite annoying, considering my assessments start tomorrow.

I actually have a good part of the later chapters already written, but I still need to write those in between. Damn muses won't leave me alone. Argh. Also, I just reread the last few chapters and realized that Baron has been a bit OOC. Tell me what you think please.

Oh, and here's the link to my deviantart page (without the spaces). I've posted two pics for this fic there, and I intend to post more soon.

http // ellenlome . deviantart .com/

Anyway, review responses time!

**Review responses:**

e-chan: Thank you! I hope you like this chapter too:)

Earthangel: yeah, I heard of it, but I just haven't seen it. I'm actually trying to buy the entire Studiio Ghibli collection, and am desperately trying to get my hands on a copy of "Whisper of the heart", but it apparently hasn't come out yet in Australia (pouts). Anyway, thanks a lot for all the encouragement you gave me. It helps me keep writing:D

Elise Rose: I love your fic too! Thanks a lot, I hope you still like the story! Oh, and thanks a lot for the fav! (blushes furiously)


	8. Chapter seven

**Author's note: **I'm sorry for the long wait, but I couldn't get that chapter out for some odd reason. For more complete author's note, please go to the end of the chapter. :)

Muta: You do know that you are practically forcing them to read, don't you?

Ellenlome (raises an eyebrow): And tell me how that is a problem?

Muta (looking utterly contempt): because of your horrible writing of course. The poor guys will probably be traumatized by the end of it for the more sensible, most likely after a few paragraphs for the others.

Ellenlome (furiously glares at Muta, with a dark aura thingy starting to glow around her): WHAT! (smoke starts coming out of her ears)

Toto and Baron: (rushing in and grabbing advancing Muta, dragging him out)

Baron (over his shoulder): Don't mind him too much, I think he's been spending too much time with my human counter-part as of late.

Ellenlome (calms down instantly): human counter-part?

Sherlock Holmes (strides in, deerstalker and all): I believe he is talking of me.

Ellenlome (eyes wide): Uh?

Muta (snickers and murmurs): The most intelligent comment of the year. (snickers again)

Sherlock Holmes: Eyes and brains, my dear, eyes and brains! All the facts are here to tell that….

Ellenlome (finally overcoming her shock): What ARE you doing here?

Holmes (completely non-plussed): I came for the disclaimer; besides, you brought me here.

Toto: She did?

Holmes: She's been a tad obsessed with fanfiction from my section of lately.

Ellenlome (grumbles): damn smart detective. (louder) Then do the disclaimer and get out of here, it's not even your fandom!

Holmes: Ellenlome doesn't own "The cat Returns" or me for that matter, she just owns the plot of the story and all original characters in it. (sighing) no one appreciates my true value around here. (disappears)

Muta: You must really be out of ideas to bring characters from over fandoms to make the disclaimer.

Ellenlome: ….

**Whispers of a distant land: Chapter seven**

"BARON!" Haru rushed to his side (AN: how funny must that look like. Girl rushing to the side of a cat…ok, so it's cute, I said it, you happy:P ), lifting his head gently from the ground. "What happened?" her eyes were darting around, wide with worry.

"I don't know; he looked fine for most of the fight!" answered Toto, flapping his wings nervously. "And the blood loss can't be enough to make him faint like that!" The crow was frustrated. Things weren't going well at all, and it was also the first time he ever saw Baron loose consciousness, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Alright, that's it! You've better tell us what ya did to him now monkey-boy!" Muta said, punctuating each of his words by a small (for him) shake, making Fento's head bobble.

"He can't answer if you're shaking like that Muta!" said Toto, quite amused at the face the creature was making at being treated like a sack of potatoes in a transporting cart. Muta stopped shaking the monkey-creature, but it didn't stop him from glaring at him.

Seeing that the fat cat had stopped shaking him, Fento straightened his tunic a bit, chuckling all the way through. He would probably have laughed out loud at the ridiculously worried faces the baron's friends were making, but one meeting with Muta's fist had convinced him that it wasn't the wisest of moves in the fat cat's vicinity.

"Answer him," and Haru's voice was as cold as ice this time. They didn't have time to waste. Fento raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Threatening me, are we? How amusing. You know, it's not the wisest thing to do, considering I have the only known antidote in my possession."

"Antidote?" Natoru was a bit perplexed by the whole thing.

"He poisoned Baron" answered Toto without turning. Then to Fento: "And I suppose you want to trade that antidote for your freedom?"

"You surprise me; I didn't expect any of Baron's friends to be that intelligent." Fento smiled slightly, a strange expression on his now bruised face. He didn't look like a trustworthy ambassador anymore. The smile would have disappeared, had he been able to see Muta's face.

"Not a chance," came Haru's voice. I haven't known you for long, but there is no way I would trust you. Miss Myril, do you think you can take care of that creature? From what you guys have told me, it would be good for us to have him back at the Cat Kingdom."

"Sure enough, Miss Haru! We'll take him right there!" replied the advisor with a smile.

"But what about Baron? You don't have the antidote, and I doubt that snake has it either." Said Myril. Haru quickly reviewed the situation and their options. It wasn't how she would have acted usually, but this was no ordinary situation either. First off, there was the matter of the war between the Cat Kingdom and the Empire of Birds (which she had never heard of, Toto being the only bird she talked to, and obviously creations weren't counted as citizens of the various kingdoms and empires, so he had never mentioned the Empire to her). That problem could possibly be solved if the monkey creature was taken to the kingdom to admit his sins, which she doubted he would, but it was still worth a try. Besides, she hoped King Lune and Yuki would work out a plan to stop the war if the creature didn't.

Secondly, and first of all in her heart, there was Baron. She looked down at the cat. If she didn't know he had been poisoned, and if not for the numerous wounds he had, she could have sworn he was sleeping. But, of course, she was quite sure that the monkey-creature - who was obviously something like an arch-nemesis to Baron – would not let Baron die peacefully, so it was more than likely that his current state was just a cover-up for the upcoming fever and whatnot that was usually associated with deadly poisons. How was she supposed to deal with that? She sighed quietly. And then Myril said something that gave the young human some hope.

"There may be a way to cure him, if you are willing to take on a journey."

Haru looked up, and she thought, not without some amusement, that, had she been a cat, her ears would have perked up. She turned to the eagle. "Tell me."

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King Lune was worried almost to death. He wasn't pacing, or doing any of the stupid things a worried person (or cat in this instance) usually does. No, Lune was worried, but his worry was his and his alone. Not even to Yuki had he told anything, he didn't want her to be troubled with the problems of the kingdom more than necessary, despite all she said. The Heavens knew that she already had enough to deal with when it came to their three kittens. The two-color eyed cat smiled slightly at that. The three would already be grown cats if they had been born and living in the human world, but as was the case with all the cats living in the Cat Kingdom, they aged about the same speed as humans, perhaps even a bit slower, which made them toddlers and thus very hard kittens to deal with, albeit very cute ones.

Lune shook his head discreetly and brought his attention back to the present. He was in the palace library, a place where he often came when he was troubled and wanted to be left in peace, as was the case right now. The library wasn't anything lavish or grandiose as one would think fitted a palace, for Lune's father had never been much into the studying arts. It was small, very welcoming with its elegant Victorian-style decorum and comfortable reading-sofas sitting by the numerous fireplaces, providing the quiet and relative intimacy any reader or writer liked from time to time. Lune didn't recall seeing many people using the library, for the cats were not very well suited for books with their paws. He did remember seeing advisor Natori once or twice thought, but never for long. The grey cat left the room as soon as, as a prince, Lune entered the room, obviously not wanting to interfere with the royal's business. Aside from Natori, the only other person Lune ever saw there was his mother.

His memories of her were quite clear. She had been a mix-blood, a cross between a Russian blue and a Siamese. She had been very beautiful and highly intelligent too. It actually was for her sole profit that the King had the library built, so she would be able to have her beloved books nearby. Lune remembered quite fondly there chess plays too. Did Natori play chess? Or Baron?

_Baron. _His wandering thoughts had unconsciously brought back his worry's subject. He had sent the orange cat to Raïtal nearly a week ago now, and still no news. Of course, Lune knew of the travel times required in-between, but still, the baron should have reported by now. He should have reported a day ago actually. What could have kept him in Raïtal for more than twenty-four hours? Could matters be even worse than they had foreseen?

Lune frowned. He didn't like that at all. As a king, it was his duty to protect his people, and to foresee things on a reasonable level was very important. Playing chess was good practice for that, you learnt to plan your moves and your opponent's actions and reactions, always at least two paces ahead of him. Right now, Lune wasn't the one ahead. He was the one that was two paces behind, and Baron's warning about Fento didn't help him in the least. That creature was cunning if nothing else, and his Intelligence service had already reported to him that they were "on into locating him", which in clear words meant that they had lost his trace and thus had no clue as to his whereabouts. The king sighed. He really couldn't blame them. They were a newly reactivated service of the court, one that had been dismantled years before by his grandfather. Seeing as Lune's father himself had never been a serious politician, much less so after the Queen's death, he hadn't felt the need to reinstate the I.S and so it had been up to Lune to dig up the old records and put it back into place. Problem was, he hadn't known of the I.S until a year ago, and thus they were only recently back in service, which meant that the cats in it still weren't trained sufficiently enough.

Another sigh. Lune could feel a headache coming; his head was already throbbing mutely. Knowing that he was most likely going to be up the entire night, it was something he could have done without.

Another problem, one that didn't bode well at all, partly because of its nature, and partly because of its almost certain connection to the other two. In the past three or four days, the birds had been acting…strange, to put it bluntly. They hadn't done anything out of place, as far as Lune knew, actually, they hadn't done anything, and that was bothering him more than any skirmishes that may have occurred. They acted casually, almost like the birds portrayed in human books, completely mindless. No fights with cats, not even a snide comment. They kept to themselves, and avoided any contact with the Kingdom's citizens. There was no noticeable activity, no sudden outburst, nothing. It was as if there was no tension between the two realms, as if cats and birds were at a total peace. But Lune knew otherwise for, as Natori had so calmly noticed, they had reacted quite violently at the news of the "assault" on their prince.

The cat turned back to the discarded reports on the table in front of him and the one between his paws. As asked, his agents had reported to him all birds' activity for the past week, and that report was something about how many birds of which species had been spotted and where. As he examined it for the umpteenth time, a line caught his eyes:

_Species: city pigeon_..._numbers last week: about 3540_…………..._numbers this week: about 10,000_……….._Activity: Nibbling on_

But Lune never read what the pigeons had been doing. What he noticed however was that their numbers had almost tripled in a week, and that definitely wasn't something good. He had read somewhere that city pigeons were the most effective and less conspicuous of the Empire's spies. Could it be…? Lune had a sinking feeling in his stomach. Something was wrong here, very wrong, he could feel it, he knew it and the worst was, he couldn't do a damn thing about it; all because he had no proof. _I sincerely hope Baron comes back soon with some information, I don't like this feeling at all. _

0000000000

Haru was cold. She could barely feel her fingers as she ran through the streets of the city and towards her home as fast as she could, holding tightly to the cat figurine she was clutching to her chest. She hoped no one noticed anything strange in the "doll" she was carrying – the last thing she needed right now was questions from passersby, questions that a girl carrying a cat in a blood-stained white suit would have more than likely raised had she not wrapped him up in her scarf. And as she ran through the cold night air, she was glad for it.

A storm had suddenly started brewing in the now darkened skies, and a hard wind was now blowing at her face, scattering leaves and papers around. The streets were starting to empty as people slowly retreated to the safety and warmness of the pubs, restaurants, and their homes. Haru almost wished she could have a quiet evening as they did, be an ordinary girl among ordinary people with ordinary people. But no, she was Haru, the girl who saved a cat prince and was now deeply connected to the magical world existing right alongside the human one, and she would not change it for a million dollars. Not when she had Muta, Toto or all of her new friends. Not when she had Baron.

Baron. She hoped she would be able to save him. Or rather, that she could bring him to the lady Myril had spoken of, the healer that lived, retired, up in the mountains north of here. The sea eagle had said that the healer was actually one of the few humans that actually spoke and listened to what animals had to say, healing them and nurturing them back to health whenever an injured animal came to her home. She wasn't very far from where they were located, and Myril had even proposed to carry Baron to her, but Haru had refused. It wasn't that she didn't want to help the Baron, but they also had the matter of the war to take care of. Natoru had to go back to the kingdom of cats, and Muta absolutely refused to go there or even leave Baron's side, which meant that Myril had to make sure the monkey-creature didn't escape, being the second strongest in the little group. It had settled the matter, and Myril and Natoru were now off to the Kingdom with a very unhappy Fento, while Haru and the team from the Cat Bureau made their way to the healer's house, set with very precise direction from the eagle as to how to get there.

Lighting flashed silently overhead, followed a bit later by thunder, and Haru lifted her head a second, hoping that Muta and Toto were alright up there. They had all silently agreed that the two would follow overhead so as not to draw any unnecessary attention to Haru, and that they would all meet at Haru's house. She wasn't very far from her goal now, only a few more blocks. Why was the trip back so long? It hadn't been so when she went to the park earlier that evening. Why did things always seem to take longer when she needed them to go faster, and faster when they should be slower? If she hadn't been busy running, Haru would have sighed in exasperation, but she had always been not very good at sports, so she kept her breath for a more important use.

She held Baron a little closer as lighting flashed again. To try and make time go faster, she mentally prepared what she would need for the upcoming journey, since Myril had told her that, as a human, it would take her at least a day to get there, and Haru didn't know how long she would be staying over at the healer's house. _I'll definitely need to take my umbrella and raincoat, and a change of clothes. My first aid kit too, you never know when it can come in handy. Mmh, what else? A note in case Mum starts worrying. _Her mum; that was another problem; how was she supposed to explain to her what the heck was going on? She could still pretend that she was on a trip for her university work, but what of the university? Haru didn't have a cell phone, and she couldn't very well tell Shizuru where she was going, so the woman was more than likely going to call the university for some info. _Maybe I can have Hiromi cover up for me? I'll tell her to tell my mom I went to the nearby mountains, should be enough. _Yes, but Hiromi won't be fooled. Should she tell her best friend about her secret? Haru shook her head. No, not yet. She had stumbled on the magical world by luck, and she wasn't sure she was allowed to divulge such a secret to anyone. She would just have to ask Hiromi to trust her then. Haru silently promised herself that after all that, she would find a way to tell the other girl of the cats and Baron. She hated lying to her best friend.

Finally, her home came into view and Haru slowed down to a jog, to finally stop right in front of her doorstep. Her mom was sleeping – it was almost midnight – and Haru had no desire to wake her up, for obvious reasons. And she had to get to her room discreetly. She unconsciously winced, for that was the tricky part: her front door's hinges hadn't been oiled for some time, and in the silence of the house the creak would be deafening. Her mom, a light sleeper, was more than likely going to wake up. How was she supposed to sneak in? Haru turned to the right and towards the kitchen window – in vain hope, for it was securely locked, as always. _Guess mom hasn't lost her mind yet. _Haru smiled wryly at that. _The door it is then._

The young woman concealed the cat as best as she could with her scarf, in case her mother came down, and then softly turned the key she had gotten out of her jean pocket into the lock, softly pushing the door open. The creaking sound it let out was even louder than what she had expected and from upstairs came a sleepy voice:

"Haru? Is that you?"

Tbc…

**Author's note (again!):**

Hey guys! I'm truly sorry about the long absence. It looks like, as much as my muses harassed me for the precedent chapter, they seemed to abandon me for this one. I don't feel like I can do anything right as of late. It's a really odd feeling, I don't know what's going on. It's the holidays, but I'm just plain bored right now.

Thankfully, my muses decided to come back (they didn't tell me how I offended them in the first place, damn) as I was listening to a CD called "Back to Love", a collection of groove music and others from the 80's. We made the silent agreement that they would help me if I put that music on, so right now I have it blazing in my ears. :D Yes, I talk to my muses. Not outloud of course, and seeing as you guys have no idea who I am, I can! Mwahahahahah! (cough) haha. Hum. Anyway.

The part with Lune wasn't originally in there, but I added it as an after thought after rereading the other chapters and realizing that I actually hadn't talked of the situation in the Cat Kingdom at all for quite a while. I was a bit horrified that my fic was leaning towards a Haru/Baron centered fic. Don't misunderstand me, I have nothing against H/B centered fics, it's just that I try to not make it a habit of centering whatever I'm writing on solely one or two people. Hey, you're an author, so omniscient here, so why not make full use of it? (wink) lol :D. Yup, still crazy. Ok, review responses time! (A loud bell is heard in the background)

michievious-lil-kitsune: :D Your review made me laugh so much! Thank you! - I actually don't like cliffies, but, as politics, they are a necessary evil I guess. :) Hope you like this chapter as well!

Earthangel: My fav reviewer! (hugs Earthangel) Thank you so much! I guess this chapter answer your question (smile). Anyway, don't worry about that question, it's not a problem for me. Yeah, I am in Australia right now, but I'm actually from Mauritius (small country lost in the middle of the Indian ocean. If you don't know where it is, I won't blame you, most people don't :). You are quite on the other side of the planet. Damn, I wish I was there too. I so want to see that movie. Hum, I'm wandering off again. Hum. The war….well, I haven't decided yet if I'm going to stop it or not. I don't even know HOW to stop it. (Great, I write the story and I don't know what to do with it).

e-chan: Thank you! And you're not bugging me, gotta love reviewers! I'm actually working on about four stories at the same time, many of which will probably never be published 'cause I can't finish them. But I'll be posting the first chapter of a series of unrelated drabbles on "The cat Returns" soon, so watch out for it:)

Phantom Ange: You really think so? Wow. Thank you. I thought I had screwed up the fighting scene 'cause I've never been good with them. It helps a lot to know that it was ok. If you have any pointers as to how I can improve it thought, they would be welcome. Highlander? Yup, I've seen that. I quite like it. And I made all creations immortals in this story because of their nature itself. I mean, a stone statue doesn't age, right? Lol. That would be a bit creepy. And you're right: there really should be more fics for this movie! (waves a little flag with "Fics for the Cat Returns!" written on it)

Yes, I'm insane. Anyway, until next time, thanks to all who reviewed,

Ellenlome


	9. Chapter eight

Ellenlome (wearing a shirt saying :Cat Returns Authoresses: ) : for the disclaimer today, we have a special guest!

michievious-lil-kitsune: (bounces in, smiling and waving)

Ellenlome: Everyone says "hi!" to michievious-lil-kitsune!

The gang from Whispers of a distant land: uh, Hi?

Baron: What's that shirt you're wearing? (looks uncomfortable)

Ellenlome (giggles): a special gift by Phantom Ange. You'll meet her/him (specifics please? I would hate to give you the wrong gender) next chapter. (evil grin)

Baron (definitely worried): I think I'll skip next chapter. (starts fading out)

Ellenlome (evil grin grows wider): You could end up to make out with Haru next chapter you know….

Baron (snaps back into focus) I do?

Ellenlome: (snicker) Yup! (nods while crossing fingers behind her back) A promise I made!

michievious-lil-kitsune: (was shaking hands with all the others when sees Baron) Cool cat! (grabs Baron and starts petting him)

Baron: (struggling to get out of m-l-k's grasp) Argh!

Haru: (stomps over and grabs Baron back) Mine! (proceeds to pet Baron)

Baron: (loud purring)

michievious-lil-kitsune: (pouts) that's not fair!

Ellenlome: (giggles) I knew I brought you for a good reason! (snicker) And for anyone who doesn't know, michievious-lil-kitsune is one of my reviewers. And he/she's (specifics again please) going to make the disclaimer today!

michievious-lil-kitsune: (smiles brightly) Yay!

Muta: then hurry up and do it before these two (points to Haru and Baron) make me sick.

Ellenlome: I think they're cute.

Muta: Bleh!

michievious-lil-kitsune: (points to Muta) Fatso! (giggles and grabs Muta) Ellenlome doesn't own "the Cat returns".

Ellenlome: Indeed, but you can borrow Muta if you want, he makes a good cushion (smirk). I don't think I can get Baron out from Haru's arms though. (peers at the couple) Dang, I wish he was mine.

Fento (striding in): you still own me you know.

Ellenlome and michievious-lil-kitsune (jumping away): Yuck! (makes gagging sound)

Fento: (looks hurt and starts crying)

Ellenlome: Oh great, now the bad guy is crying. What do I do?

michievious-lil-kitsune: by the end of the chapter he should have stopped, so what about letting the others read it?

Ellenlome: yeah, good idea. See ya on the other end! (waves and everyone fades out)

**Whispers of a distant land: Chapter eight**

_The creaking sound it let out was even louder than what she had expected and from upstairs came a sleepy voice:_

"_Haru? Is that you?"_

Haru cringed; she had hoped against all odds that her mother wouldn't hear her. The light at the top of the stairs was turned on, and Haru saw her mother standing there, trying to blink sleep away from her half-lidded eyes. Haru almost smiled. She knew just how to get Shizuru back to bed.

"It's ok Mum, I'm just going to bed. You look tired, why don't you go back to bed too?" Haru murmured, in her best telling-a-story-right-before-going-to-bed voice. As expected, Shizuru mumbled, and didn't even notice that Haru had guided her back to the futon and had tucked her in. She was already in the land of dreams. This time Haru smiled. She then deposited Baron on her bed and, taking out the small first-aid kit, proceeded to disinfect and dress the more serious wounds, washing the minor ones. Aside from that poisoned wound, he would have been perfectly fine. She sighed again as she made her pack, and as she finally slipped out the house, she thought that this was probably one of the weirdest days she ever had. An hour later, she was on the bus, and as was often the case when she was tired and couldn't do much, she began to daydream.

Memories

Haru was inside the Cat Bureau, her legs under her as she sat on the wooden box near the door. It was midday and she had come to visit her friends as she was, for once, free of any duties. Baron hadn't been home when she came, but Toto and Muta had been more than eager to usher her in, Muta taking out some angel fruit cake he had just made the day before, while Toto added some of his mulberries.

Haru sipped quietly at her tea. It was only ordinary tea, nothing special. Indeed, Muta didn't like tea, and Toto couldn't drink it for obvious reasons, and so it was just one of those tea sachets you could find everywhere. Haru wished it was Baron's blended tea. She had taken the habit of making her own tea after her adventure, and she had come to prefer personal blends to the commercial ones, no matter what the taste was.

As she talked with her two friends, her mind was only half on what was being said. She wished Baron was there. As if responding to her unspoken thoughts, the door opened and in came Baron, already taking off his hat, apparently back from some business at the Cat Kingdom.

"Those cats are impossible! Truly Muta, how could you even put up with them!"

"Oy Baron! We have a guest you know!" Muta chided him slightly, inwardly smirking. He had warned Baron that the cat advisors were impossible.

Baron, who had had his eyes downcast, lifted them at Muta's remark, and he realized that Haru was indeed sitting there. Haru knew she should have felt insulted that he didn't even notice her (she was three times his size!), but when her eyes met his, she completely forgot about any insult, her heart doing a summersault instead, and butterflies flapping merrily around in her stomach, or so she thought.

For a second, time froze, and she saw something in the two green orbs that in her wildest dream she hadn't dared imagine. It was an emotion that she knew, something that she had named numerous times, and in that single instant she couldn't remember what it was, except that it was a warm feeling that she wished he shared with her.

And then, time unfroze and what she had seen in his eyes was gone. The baron bowed slightly, greeting her as politely and formally as the first time.

"Greetings, Miss Haru."

"Hello Baron," she had said. She searched his eyes, but they were back to their unemotional state, and she dismissed the moment. It was nothing after all.

Memories end

Now, as the bus sped up the mountain side, Haru wasn't sure it had all been nothing, for, in that moment before Baron collapsed, she had seen the same look in his eyes. But she couldn't bring herself to voice it; she couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. She was too afraid to be hurt again. Denial was a far better solution.

_I'm not ready for this yet._

The bus stopped. They had arrived. Getting out from under the seat where they had hidden themselves, Toto and Muta urged her on. They had no time to waste. It would be late into the night when they finally reached the doorstep of the wooden chalet.

000000000000

Baron was dead.

The poison had been too fast, even for him, and they had been too slow in bringing him to the lady. They couldn't save him, and now he was dead. Haru was standing there, in front of his grave, right in the middle of the small graveyard she hadn't even known existed in the Cat Kingdom. She just never associated the place with death; it just didn't fit the brightly colored magical country and its equally cheerful inhabitants. No, Haru never imagined a place such as this in that place, yet here she was standing as still as stone, looking mournfully over the simple white marble gravestone as if it could erase the name it bore from its surface if she glared hard enough. She was starting to get bitter, she knew it. For the first time, she wished that the kingdom had normal weather as the rest of the world, so that its non-existent sun didn't shine so brightly when the sky should have been crying the tears that her frozen heart couldn't. She wanted to blame the whole universe and creation for his death, she wanted to yell at the tops of her lungs at whatever entities governed their existences for the injustice of it all, if only her voice hadn't left her when the old woman in the purple shawl told her of his passing. Yes she would have.

All around her, friends were standing, a pace behind out of respect she wasn't sure she deserved. They were all there, all those she had met ever since her adventure in the kingdom, as well as a few she didn't recognize yet knew had as much right as any to pay their respects to Baron.

To her right stood Yuki, big blue eyes rimmed with red over crying so much cast down, leaning heavily on the shoulder of her husband the King. Lune, whose sagging shoulders had just been burdened with more grieves and problems than even a king could bear. The human young woman knew that, almost completely hidden by the two and the captain of the guards that stood behind the couple, three kittens were standing, hugging tightly to their parents, their eyes wide in confusion over the whole thing, and not quite understanding what had happened.

Natori and Natoru were right next to the King and Queen, supporting each other as a misfit pair of brothers. Over-emotional Natoru and stern Natori, the two advisors that stood by the king's side and were more like family than employees to him. The annoying yet so cheerful Natoru, whose smile seemed to have vanished into thin air, and brave Natori, whose grey fur looked dim even though the light was as bright as ever.

A bit far on her left was the shiny glow of Myril's white feathers and the eerie moon-colored eyes of the lady, her ever-constant purple shawl wrapped safely around her shoulders.

Last but not least, and standing right behind Haru were two people whom, even though she couldn't see them, she knew were about as grief stricken as she was, if not more. Muta and Toto, Baron's two sidekicks; his fellow colleagues from the Cat Bureau and his closest friends. Haru could easily picture the fat cat's sagged shoulders and small eyes, standing as still as he could, trying with all his might to look as grumpy and strong as ever so as to shy away his grief. And Toto, good, amiable Toto; he just hadn't been the same after that. Sure, he was the first trying to cheer her up, saying that Baron wouldn't like to see them all like that, but Haru knew better than anyone that it was just how he hid his true feelings. He hadn't even tried to banter with Muta once.

Haru could barely stand it. The wind was rustling the cat-tails now, as it did on her first visit, as it always did and always will. It seemed to carry around a misplaced cheerfulness that dissipated in the sorrowful air of the small assembly. She knew she should have had a part in all this; it was how people normally reacted when a close friend died, wasn't it? But she wasn't feeling sorrow, not even some small grief. In fact she didn't feel at all. She was numb, her whole mind and heart empty. She didn't even have time to tell him…tell him…tell…

"If only you had brought him in sooner, I might have been able to save him," came the soft whisper-like voice of the lady. Haru turned slowly towards her, eyes going wide as the statement – more of an accusation in her ears – was made.

"If only you had accepted my proposition to carry him, he might have survived." Myril's voice came out, eyes devoid of all emotion. Haru started to feel the emptiness inside of her grow. _It's all my fault…_

"If only you had never met him," said Toto. _My fault my fault…_Haru whipped around, staring bewildered at the crow. She could feel herself standing right on the narrow ledge, next to the void in her heart.

"If only you didn't save me that day when I was crossing the road, all this would never have happened," Lune said, lifting his empty eyes from the ground. The ledge was rapidly disappearing, fading into nothingness.

"If only you didn't feed me when I was a kitten, I wouldn't have told you about the Bureau and he would still be alive." Yuki this time, her eyes as expressionless and devoid of life as all the others. Haru couldn't find her voice, wouldn't. The last remnant of sanity started to crumble into the emptiness.

"If only you never existed," said Muta, delivering the last blow. Haru fell, the emptiness and oblivion embracing her as she did so, tendrils of darkness encircling her and then…

Haru gasped and sat bolt upright. She was sweating heavily in her pajamas, and shivered as she suddenly realized that all her trashing in her sleep had thrown her covers down on the floor. She had been sleeping, yes. It had all been a dream, or rather, a nightmare. She wasn't sure how to call it. It kept coming back at her, her heart's inner turmoil and secret desires mixing with the memory from one year ago. Haru hugged her knees close to her chest, tears threatening to spill out. It hadn't been all a dream, no, just the last part. She so wished every single bit of it wasn't real. But it was. Real was that night not so long ago when two creations fought, real was the dagger that had stricken Baron on that same night, and real was his death a few days later. Real was the gravestone. She shivered again. Her alarm clock said 4.23 am. Too late to go back to a sleep she knew she wouldn't find, and too early to leave for university, but plenty of time instead to think and get lost in her memories.

_No, not again. _Gathering a towel and clothes for the coming day, Haru tip-toed to the bathroom for a hot shower. It wouldn't do any good if her mother discovered that she had yet another nightmare. The rushing and deliciously warm water seemed to wash away her problems every time, albeit for a few minutes only. _How strange, I can't feel the water. _And then she knew why. She quickly got out and dried herself, dressing up as quickly as possible. And as she stepped into the kitchen, she was greeted by two green eyes. Haru sighed; Baron's ghost was sitting on the windowsill. She had started seeing his ghost shortly after his death. She looked back at the eyes, knowing full well that she would find the ever constant regret and sorrow in them. They were always mixed with a lot of emotions, but these two were always there, never going away, sometimes barely visible, and sometimes as powerfully bright as the sun itself. There never was a single reproach in the emerald orbs. Somehow, this hurt Haru more than anything else. If at least he said something to her, but he always remained silent, and even though she knew it was her fault he died, he never looked angry at her, never held any grudge against her. It was as thought him haunting her had something to do with the intense regret his look bore. She could never figure it out. If only he talked. She sighed and started to turn to make tea. And then the unthinkable happened, and she heard him.

"Haru…"

Her eyes went wide, her heart stammering in her chest.

"Haru…" the whisper was a bit more insistent, a bit distorted, and somehow different.

She slowly turned back to him, looking him straight in the eyes. They were glowing, rapidly changing colors, fire was roaring around her - when did it start? - but she didn't care.

"HARU!"

0000000000000

Haru woke up with a gasp. Again. But this time she was greeted by moon-colored eyes. It took Haru some time to remember where she was and what had happened. It was only after seeing the slumped form of Muta in a corner chair and the flutter of Toto's wings that she remembered that she was at the healer's house and quite awake. Said lady was in front of her, holding the single source of light in the room – a small candle - , and it was her eyes Haru had first seen. Her hand was still on the young woman's shoulders where she had placed it to shake Haru awake, and even now her concerned voice whispered her name urgently.

"Miss Haru, Haru-chan!"

Haru's eyes focused back on the woman with the purple shawl, and the healer sighed in relief. She had started to worry, after all the trashing Haru did and her taking a good ten minutes to wake up. The brown eyes instantly filled with worry though, upon realizing who it was exactly that was in front of her.

"How is he?" asked Haru, all her concern and emotions from the past two days pouring into these three words. However tired she was, the lady smiled slightly, and led the young woman outside.

"Fine," she answered.

Haru couldn't describe how she felt at that moment. It was as if a great weight had just been pulled off her shoulders, and she suddenly felt light headed. She needed some fresh air, and she slowly made her way outside and on the terrace.

"Thank you; thank you so much, with all my heart. There are no words that can express how grateful I am." She bowed as deeply and respectfully as she could.

The healer chuckled slightly, but her mirth subsided quickly. What she had seen in Haru's eyes when she told her Baron was fine worried her, however wonderful it was. For it was pure, unlimited love that she had seen, love for the cat figurine, a love forbidden between species, forbidden to exist between mortal and immortal. The lady sighed, making Haru worry, but the woman ignored the younger one, deep in her thoughts. She knew of that type of love, it was the kind of love that nothing could stop or prevent, the type of love that kept making two souls meet over and over again, until the end of times. Very few had known it, very few ever met their true soul mates, and even fewer recognized them. But those who did…those had the strongest bonds ever in the universe, bonds that the gods themselves couldn't destroy, much less death. To these, time, species, age, distance, anything that the universe threw in their path was of no concern, for nothing could keep them apart. Nothing. But even though she knew all that, the lady had to hear the confirmation from Haru. So she asked, although she dreaded the answer she already knew about.

"Miss Haru, do you love him?"

"What?" Haru was completely taken aback, and her panicked mind threw up the only defense it could, feigning an ignorance of the subject that cold have fooled her own self. The lady sighed. It looked like she would have to put it under Haru's nose if she wanted her answer.

"Do you love Baron?"

Haru's eyes went wide with shock, before clouding over with a mix of emotions. Turning to the nearby forest, Haru leaned forward on the barrier, her head supported by her hand. The sun was starting to rise, and mist hung about the trees and ferns all round the house. An early wind blew some loose autumn leaves from the branches, and soon orange red and yellow leaves were falling all around, chasing each other and the retreating mist. Haru shuddered imperceptibly, whether it is because of the chillness of the morning air, or because of the still vivid images from her dreams. She knew they had been an insight of a possible future, and they had deeply shook her, emotions stirring, and now the lady's question was making her reconsider her feelings. Sure, she liked Baron a lot, but she had never really questioned that before, never cut a clear defining line to her feelings. She didn't even know if they "flirted" together at all. She never put a name on what she felt in his presence. What was it she was feeling for him? Her thoughts wandered, and in these few minutes she analyzed as best as she could everything she felt for the cat for the past four years, everything she could remember, and after a few moments she came to a conclusion that, even though it didn't surprise her, was still quite a shock. How could she have denied it for so long?

"Yes," she whispered, so low that the healer had to strain her hears to hear it, "yes, I love him; with all my heart and with all my soul, I love him."

The lady sighed in defeat. It was as she had expected. As much as it would hurt, she would have to set things straight between the two, so that they would not fight and suffer for the rest of their existence. But as she looked up and started opening her mouth to tell Haru to let go, to quench these emotions before it was too late, her eyes locked upon the chocolate brown of Haru's lost gaze as she leaned towards the woods, and she once again saw that love so profound that had started her asking. _No._ She couldn't do it. She couldn't stop them, and wouldn't. _That love…_The lady knew that it would be risky, but she was going to help them. Yes, she would help these two, with all the powers she possessed. They didn't deserve to be apart, as she had just realized that taking them apart would more than likely hurt them more than their forbidden love could. And, who knows? Maybe the gods would approve of this love for once, maybe, just this once, they would help.

"You do realize that there are a few problems to that," she said finally. Haru chuckled slightly.

"Yes, quite a lot actually, but since we met, I don't think anything's impossible, although…although I don't know if my feelings are returned, not even what to do about it now…" And it was true. She knew she loved Baron now, but what well would it do her? There was no way they could be together, was it?

"Actually, there is a way," said the healer, making Haru jump. She didn't know she had been thinking out loud. It took her a moment to realize what the lady had said. Her eyes went wide with surprise and hope.

"There is?" she asked eagerly. "How?"

"I can use my powers to call on the gods and spirits so they will grant me the power to make you half-cat and immortal maybe but" and she raised a finger to stop the oncoming comment from Haru, "you won't be able to change back afterwards, and I must warn you that immortality is not assured. The gods are erratic."

"It doesn't matter, as long as I can be with him" answered the young woman without even thinking, not the least bit surprised at learning of the woman's power; magic was as much a part of her life now as anything else. Heck she was in love with a magical creature, so what? "But, will it be possible to make my goodbyes to my family and friends before changing?"

"Don't be so hasty in your decision, Haru," warned the lady. "It is not a simple decision you're making, but a lifetime choice. You have to be sure of what you're doing!"

At that, Haru paused, but only to look at the elder woman in front of her with a determination and assurance she didn't know she had before that instant.

"I've never been surer in my whole life. This is the world I belong in, this is my place, or nowhere else is."

The lady nodded. There was no point in arguing, these eyes told her everything she needed to know. She sighed slightly. Somehow, she had hoped that Haru would reconsider, but no, such love couldn't be stopped, as she had already known.

"Very well then. I'll perform the spell tonight."

Haru opened her mouth to speak, and then realized it was useless. She had already made her decision. She nodded and the old woman turned and walked into the house. Haru followed her and closed the door, but just as the healer was about to go and get some well earned rest, she asked:

"Can I go see him?"

The elder woman stopped and turned her face slightly to the right, a smile on her lips.

"Of course."

Haru didn't even wait to thank the lady; she rushed as fast as she could to the room where the cat was resting. The lady smiled. _In love, definitely, _she thought as she disappeared into her room.

Tbc…

**Author's, euh, note (?): **

Fento: (still crying from beginning of chapter)

Ellenlome (trying to console him) Listen, we didn't mean it! It was a joke really! (smiles encouragingly at Fento)

Fento (stops crying and rubs his nose, then makes puppy eyes at Ellenlome) really?

Ellenlome: really

Fento (stops crying and sniffing) Thanks. Can I have some cookies?

Ellenlome: (frowns) you'll get on a sugar high again.

Fento: (makes puppy eyes) Pwease?

Ellenlome (muttering) damn the power of puppy eyes (to Fento) Here, you can have the whole jar. You won't cry again, will you?

Fento: Yay! (grabs jar and runs in a dark corner to eat the cookies)

Ellenlome: That was…disturbingly cute. Uh, author's note (mutter) how can he be so cute when he's the bad guy? I gotta fix that (turns to the readers) Another chapter done! Anyway, I've been asked for some Haru/Baron fluff, so I included that small "memory" scene. I'm not really good at fluff but I'll try my best. It actually helped 'cause I thought that the trip in the bus would be boring. I wonder if I should have described the arrival at the healer's house though. By the way, can anyone suggest a name for her? I'm out of ideas.

As for the fluff, don't worry, next chapter is ONLY fluff between the two, and I should shut up 'cos I'm going to give away what I'm planning and that's not a good idea. :D

**Review responses time! (big Chinese gong is rung)**

Phantom Ange: (Ellenlome blushes a deep red) THANK YOU SO MUCH! I LOVE the shirt! And Baron didn't like it. (evil grin) Would you like to participate in the next disclaimer so we can traumatize him further? (innocent smile) And the next chapter will be all for your special request! (Smile)

michievious-lil-kitsune: I hope you liked talking with the gang in the disclaimer! I had fun writing that, and it reminds my characters that I can make reviewer cameos whenever I want (evil grin) lol. By the way, You can have Muta for the whole week, but you'll have to let me have him sometimes so I can write the other scenes. (grins) He does make a good cushion you know (Muta: eyebrow is twitching).

e-chan: Another chappie! Hope you like it! And that last chapter wasn't meant to have a cliffhanger, I just couldn't find any other place to cut it.

Earthangel: Sorry to worry you more, but I still don't know about the war, although it would be interesting to add some battle scenes between cats and birds, and how people would react to that. I don't know. I am tempted to end it peacefully, but these scenes are just making my fingers itch. Oh well, wait and see I guess. Even I didn't expect half of what I wrote to happen. :) By the way, what was that Spirited Away story you spoke of? I would like to read it.

Mia-Hood: Thank you! And Sherlock Holmes is cool! (smile) yay! (sugar high here)

Sweet-Intoxication: Thank you so much for the comment! (blush) Although I don't think you'll be able to sue Muta on me. I just lent him to michievious-lil-kitsune as a cushion, so he's not really in a position to do anything (snicker). Yup, I'm evil. And crazy. And on a sugar high right now. I seem to be on a sugar high a lot lately. I wonder if it's my natural state? (ponders)

By the way, anyone who wants to be part of one of the disclaimers, please go ahead and ask. It always makes for funny disclaimer to have other people around!

Baron: (mumbling) Of course, you're not the one getting traumatized here.

Ellenlome (giggles and evil grin): see ya all! (waves)


	10. Chapter nine

Fento: (runs in gasping) help me! She's after me!

Ellenlome: (looking up from…a game of poker with Muta, Haru and Phantom Ange! …O.o…) Who?

Fento: (is panicking) Her!

Ellenlome: (raises an eyebrow) Are you on sugar high again?

Muta: (deals a card) That joke is fast becoming old.

michievious-lil-kitsune: (Runs in with a butterfly net, sees Fento and starts running after him)

Fento: (Squeaks and runs away)

Muta: Royal flush. You lose. (grins)

Ellenlome: I don't. I've got a coyote and road runner hand, and if I add the dynamite ace in, it makes for a Hilarious Gag, which means that YOU lose. (smiles innocently)

Muta: We're playing poker Ellenlome.

Ellenlome: No we aren't. (smiles wickedly) And since you didn't know, you get a gage!

Muta: Uh?

Ellenlome: EarthAngel! (EarthAngel strides in) You did say you wanted a Muta Moshi right?

EarthAngel: Yay! (grabs Muta and runs off)

Muta: You'll pay for this! Argh!

Ellenlome: (smiles and looks back to the game) hey! What happened to the cards!

Haru and Phantom Ange: (cuddling little rabbits) Aren't they cute?

Ellenlome: Somehow I think that introducing you to magic wasn't a good idea.

Haru: (whispering to Phantom Ange) I think she's out of ideas for her disclaimers. This one wasn't even funny.

Phantom Ange: (chuckles)

Ellenlome (slaps self): I'm not sure reviewer cameos are such a good idea anymore. You're all getting waaay too smart.

**Whispers of a distant land: Chapter nine**

The healing "ward" wasn't really one. If anything, it looked more like a giant bedroom for a numerous family, whose members had all gone out for the night, leaving behind empty beds of all sizes. All empty, except one. About three quarters of the length of the room, under a window, a small form was resting. Haru silently made her way to the cat and sat down on the chair that had so recently been occupied by Kanade the healer.

As she looked down at the cat, Haru's eyes softened, and she impulsively reached out and started stroking him lightly between the ears. She was a bit surprised when, in his sleep, he leaned in to her touch. Could it be…? But no, she wouldn't go down that path, lest she was wrong in her assumptions. Instead, she just sat there, a soft smile she hadn't even known was there on her lips. Baron was safe, and in that moment it was all that mattered to her. It didn't matter to her that she was in love with a cat figurine, or that said love may not be returned, or even that there was a war brewing out there. She knew it sounded selfish, but as long as she could be by his side, all was well in the world for her.

Later into the night, a single moonbeam, streaming through the drawn curtains, was witness to a very strange and unusual sight that night. As it fell from the sky, it landed on a large hand holding a much smaller one. The moonbeam found this very intriguing and so bounced on a small ring on the woman's hand and back to the Moon. When told about this, the Moon called her daughters the Stars to come and have a look at this strange sight that one of her sons had found, and when gazing upon the sleeping cat and woman, the Moon and Stars decided that all was well indeed.

0000000000

In the morning, the curious moonbeam had changed into a teasing sunray, and as it made its way in the room it stirred one occupant of the room.

Baron's eyes opened slowly, and he immediately shut them at the sudden brightness. But as he tried to bring up his arm to block out the offending light, he found himself unable to do so. Was he bound? His eyes fully opened now, Baron looked down, only to find Haru's head resting on his bare shoulder, one hand holding his, and the other arm draped across his chest and holding his other arm.

Baron blinked. It was then of course that the fact that Haru's head was on his shoulder registered in his mind, and he suddenly realized that there were two cat ears poking out of Haru's hair, and from his position he could barely see her tail twitching. The orange cat resisted the urge to sit bolt upright in shock, lest he woke up Haru. But even though his head went back to the pillow, inside he was in near-panic. What could have happened? Try as he might, he couldn't even guess why Haru was there, in cat form, and sleeping on his shoulder.

_What happened while I was out? Why is she in cat-form? Did someone force her into changing like last time? On the other hand, she doesn't seem panicked. She's so beautiful…Wait, did I just think that? Oh lord, I did. What's going on with me? _(A/N: Well, yeah, he's confused. Wouldn't you be?)

But while he had been thinking, the little sunray had grown bored with Baron and decided it was high time to wake up the other person. And so…

00000000

Haru woke up in the most pleasant of ways, with the birds chirping and to the steady rise and fall of her pillow. That is, it was a pleasant way to wake up until that last fact registered into her sleep-heavy mind, and she stiffened. She was afraid to open her eyes, afraid to see where she was, because there was but one explanation to a breathing warm pillow. A low rumble, coming from beneath her, finally came out as a small chuckle. There was no denying it now, and so Haru slowly lifted her head, and her eyes met his.

The chuckle stopped, and the two just lay there, their gazes locked upon the other's eyes. Time's river slowed around the two, and in the peace and intensity of that small place, it stopped and took a short rest that was eternity to the two cats.

As she looked into the green depths, Haru suddenly understood the expression "drowning into one's eyes", and she was even surer of her decision. Gazing into those eyes, she was sure; no she knew that, in a billion years, she would never ever regret it.

00000000

Baron couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the brown orbs. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, his heart was fastening its pace by the second. She was so beautiful. And as he stared into her eyes, the truth became apparent to him. Of course. How could he have been so blind? How was it that he never saw the love in them, how could he have mistaken it for simple friendship? He had dismissed it, denied it for so long, and now...

00000000

Haru could read so much and at the same time so few in the piercing green eyes. There were so many things she wanted to say, but the words seemed to get caught in her throat, just beyond her reach, and it frustrated her. Unbeknownst to her, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

00000000

The baron was shocked to see her cry, and he impulsively reached out and softly whipped it away. His hand never leaved her face.

"Don't cry, Haru, please don't cry." he whispered as his hand caressed the side of her face. "It hurts me to see you cry…"

"Baron…" she murmured, barely parting her lips. Baron smiled. She looked so much like the frightened schoolgirl from four years ago, and yet there was a subtle difference between the two, a difference he had liked seeing, a difference he had fallen in love with...

"You're so beautiful…" Haru's heart did a fancy summersault. "Haru…" When did they move so close to one another? His hand was now in her hair, playing with the silky chocolate strands. They were leaning closer to one another by the second now.

When their lips met, Baron wished that this moment lasts forever. Haru's arms were behind his neck now, but neither seemed to notice. Nothing could have separated them, and at the time everything seemed perfect. Baron had never felt better in his whole life. They were out of breath by the time the kiss ended, but they had never felt so happy in their entire life, and as Haru rested her head on his shoulder once more, panting slightly, Baron smiled, holding her as close as he could.

"I love you," he whispered in her hair. It smelled like lavender, and the cat relished in the scent.

Haru shifted slightly. She had guessed what he said, but she needed to hear it, loud and clear. It was such a small thing, yet it meant so much to her…

"Baron?"

Baron smiled fully this time. Saying what he felt out loud had been like deliverance to him, he never knew it could hurt so much to hold his feelings inside.

"I love you, Haru," he repeated, and Haru smiled widely. "I love you, and I'll say it as many times and as loud as necessary for the whole world to hear if it makes you smile like that every time."

Haru leaned over and kissed him lightly. "And I love you, Baron. I've always loved you." She chuckled. "So much for my little crush."

Baron chuckled too at the small reference to her confession. "Indeed," he said as he stroked her hair and fur, "Indeed…"

As they sat there in contented silence, the Sun continued its steady course across the sky, and as it did the mischievous dawn rays were replaced by the steady morning sunrays who, in their wisdom, gave the couple a pleasantly warm air to bask in. They could have stayed forever like that, not caring about the world and living in their own little paradise, but they both knew it couldn't be so right now, and so they sighed as reality caught up to them and they reluctantly drew apart, although their hands held each other's still, their fingers intertwined. Haru moved slightly over, ending up in Baron's lap, but either they didn't notice or didn't care, none questioned it. It felt right.

In an attempt to capture the moment, Baron looked at Haru, really looked at her. She was still wearing the cream skirt and green top she had been wearing the night before, whatever spell that had transformed apparently shrinking her clothes as well. They clung well to her, highlighting her curves, and the cat noticed that she had retained a more human form, more like him than a normal cat. She had the tail, ears, whiskers and fur of a cat, but she still had human hands as his own, although padded as a cat's paw, and he could guess that her feet would be like his own: a cross between a paw and human foot. A catwoman. Baron smiled slightly at the analogy.

But the most human trait she retained were her eyes…They were still the deep chocolate brown they had been when he first met her, the wonderful gems he had found himself drowning in but a few minutes ago, or was it hours? He couldn't remember. Time was inconsistent when with the one you loved. They weren't slanted as a cat's, and somehow Baron was glad they didn't change. He loved her eyes, her beautiful eyes…

Baron blinked when he realized that he had moved very close to Haru in his inspection of her, and that now their faces were inches away from one another. Baron smiled, rapidly closing the distance between them. He stopped an inch or so away from her face, forcing her to look at him in the eyes.

"You're cute when you blush, did anyone ever tell you that? He whispered as he leaned in for another kiss, effectively preventing Haru from replying. Not that she complained anyway.

Tbc…

**Author's note: **That. Chapter. Was. HARD. TO. WRITE. Woof! Well, sorry for the long wait guys, but I'm not a good fluff writer. Hope it was ok. Tell me what you think of it. Especially you Phantom Ange, since you requested it:) Which reminds me…Review responses time!

Phantom Ange: Hey there! Hope you liked the chappie! Anyway, I followed your suggestion of "Kanade" as a name for the healer. I really love that name. Thanks a lot! Oh, and Baron doesn't dislike you, he's just disturbed by the shirts. :smirk: I, on the other hand, love it.

EarthAngel: Lol. Here you go, one Muta Moshi, one:laughs: thanks a lot for the review, as always. Yeah, well, I deduced people would like to kill me when reading that bit :sweat drop: I was depressed when I wrote that bit, so it is a bit over-emotional and well, depressive. " But I don't want to see Baron die either, don't worry. That would be too sad, even for me.

michievious-lil-kitsune: Hey! Glad to see you again! Thanks for reviewing.

Yay! I've got new reviewers! Welcome Kat and Okashi-chan! Thanks a lot for R&R this humble story!

Kat: A new reviewer! Yay! Thanks a lot, I appreciate the comment. And Baron dead would make anyone cry I think. Heck, I almost cried when rereading the chapter, and I wrote it. Dang, I'm too sentimental…

Okashi-chan: :blush: thank you! Stupid environment…I know how you feel, mine just kind of knocks on my door when it's a critical moment. I swear he does that on purpose… :giggles: Yeah, I'm crazy, but that's no news I'm sure :wink:


	11. Chapter ten

Ellenlome:….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……….

Muta: (pokes her with a stick) Hey!

Ellenlome: (still sleeping)…zzz……hrm?...yeah, I'd like a lemon s'berry ice cream pleaz…thank youzzzz…….

Muta: (pokes Ellenlome harder) HEY!

Toto: (snicker) I don't think it's going to wake her up.

Muta: (throws stick away in exasperation) Does that mean we have to do the disclaimer AGAIN?

Toto: (peers at sleeping Ellenlome) looks like it. Unless you know how to wake her up. I'm out of ideas (points to a pile of random stuff one usually uses to wake up people, including a now-empty bucket).

Muta: (Curses under his breath) Should have known. Remind me to hit her muses on the head next time they keep her up till 3 AM. Hard.

Toto: Will do.

Muta: Aren't you going to do the disclaimer?

Toto: Nah, I'm no good at it.

Muta: How hard can it be to say: "Ellenlome doesn't own the Cat Returns, only the plot of this story and any original ideas/characters"?

Toto: (snicker) Well, since you already did it, I don't see any use in repeating it.

Muta: (curses again) I've been tricked! Damn birdbrain.

Toto: (Snickering)

Ellenlome:….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……….

**Whispers of a distant land: Chapter ten**

Back at the Cat Kingdom, things were going as usual. Or at least that's what it seemed like to all who didn't know of all the disturbing messages coming from many of the Kingdom's provinces. Deep down into the palace, the chamber where all messages came from was in a hustle. Magical portals kept opening and closing over the coming and going cat messengers as they carried notices and requests.

The place was, in the opinion of the Chief Messenger Manager, or C.M.M., like a bee-hive most of the time, but more so these last few days. As he looked the constant traffic of cream-colored cats, he thought that he couldn't recall, in all his years in the messenger service, as much activity as he was now seeing.

The C.M.M. frowned. All the traffic was going to exhaust the mages that maintained opened the portals and so assured the well-being of the service. Without them, the Message Service didn't exist, and if one of them was to collapse unexpectedly, it would be a catastrophe for those who were using the portal he/she was sustaining at the time. What could be the cause for such unusual activity?

He knew that a message from Lord Aaron – a wealthy cat from France, thanks to his mice pastures - had sent a message about being unable to send more mice because birds had been attacking his cattle recently, but that couldn't be important enough to justify all this. But now that he thought about it, the C.M.M. remembered another message concerning the birds. One of the foreign messengers had brought it a week or so ago, and had accidentally blurted out its content while drunk at a party held by some cats that night.

The C.M.M. wondered if it was related, and it was sure that he would have come to the logical conclusion, had he not been interrupted by the commotion caused over a mage nearly collapsing. He purposefully made his way forward, sending the mage to rest in his room and having another one replace him. His role was to make sure that the Service was fully functional at all times, not to ponder about political matters. Let the high-ups deal with that.

00000000000

"Here it is!" yelled Natoru over the wind. Myril and he were fast approaching the five lakes shaped as a cat's paw that marked the entry to the Cat Kingdom. The sea eagle nodded as she proceeded to lower herself to a near-ground level, tightening her claws around a bound Fento. It wouldn't be good to have the culprit escape so close to his judgment.

As the cat silently cast the appropriate spell, a glowing blue portal opened at the east end of the third small lake. Myril plunged into it, and after a few seconds of disorientating transfer, sweet warm air greeted them. They had arrived to the Kingdom of Cats.

00000000000

Lune sighed. Again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. But he sure had nothing to be ashamed of, for he was certain that anyone would have sighed if in his position and with confronted with the recent events. After finding that report about the increasing numbers of pigeons, he had had the palace in frenzy, asking for more information.

He had Natori helping him of course, and the Head of his Intelligence Service was also in the secret – he didn't want to make the matter official yet; no reason in panicking the population too soon, he wasn't even sure what he was so worried about – but Lune was still very busy. He had sent Yuki to sleep a few hours before, while he himself remained bent upon the many reports, trying to figure out what the knot in his stomach was for, while he very much needed sleep, probably more so than anyone else. The Cat King hadn't slept in days.

Rainbow light streamed in the study through its two large windows, and Lune caught himself glaring at it. Why couldn't the Kingdom have normal lighting? It was all good to rest lazily in the sun in merry times, but in times like these it shouldn't be so! The king rubbed his forehead. It was stupid to blame the weather. It sure wasn't going to help in any way. What was Baron doing?

As if to answer his unspoken thought, a guard burst into the room, apparently out of breath from having run a long distance. Lune's ears perked forward and he raised his head in question in the very much irregular entry.

"You…Your majesty!" the guard bowed slightly, remembering in front of whom he was standing. "There's a huge eagle coming down in front of the palace, and Advisor Natoru has been spotted with it!"

"What!" Lune could barely believe it. _Natoru? On an eagle? What is a bird doing here? Could it be Hanakash?_ What had happened? "Send down guards! I'm coming!" And with that he stood up and, forgetting etiquette, began running down the halls and to the doors to the palace. But when he arrived on the bridge, the sight that greeted him as very different to what he had expected: A white eagle was standing to the side while Advisor Natoru was instructing the guards to hold tightly an already bound Fento. This was very confusing a scene to the king, and of course, prompted his next question:

"What in the worlds is going on here?"

00000000000

Muta wasn't shocked easily. In fact, very little ever shocked him, and when something did shock him, he didn't show it. It was one of those things he had learned after knowing Baron for so long. The cat was a master of his features, no matter what his feelings were on the inside. Of course, there were some things that even Baron couldn't hide, especially not from his two best friends. Like his behavior towards Haru. Muta and Toto had really found the whole thing ridiculous, as for them his feelings for the human were as clear as the crystal – although they did admit that to any other person (cat or not) who didn't know the baron as they, he had been acting in a very confusing manner.

Of course, they didn't tell him that his feelings were that obvious, and certainly not what they thought said feelings for Haru were, for it was also very obvious that the cat was confused about the matter.

And so, he wasn't shocked to see Haru and Baron strode in the room, fingers barely brushing each other's and a dreamy smile on both of their faces. Nope, not surprised at all. What did surprise him though was the fact that Haru had somehow changed into a cat woman in between late last night when he had fallen asleep and this morning. He suddenly realized that his mouth was hanging open, and that Toto was laughing at- no wait, he wasn't. The crow was too busy gaping at the couple himself to even notice Muta's misstep. In any other circumstances, Muta would have jumped at the occasion to tease his friend, but right now he had questions he needed answered.

"What happened to ya, kiddo?" he asked in a gruff voice. "I though you didn't want ta be a cat?" It would have sounded like a reprimand, had his smile not said otherwise.

"I never said that. I said I didn't want to marry the prince of cats. Being a cat is another matter entirely." Haru's face had turned serious at the statement, but she smiled when Muta groaned and held his head in mock annoyance.

"Just my luck! How do you expect me to deal with two of you?"

Toto hopped to a nearby chair of the room they were in. "How did this happen anyway?" the crow asked as he tilted his head to the right.

Baron turned to Haru, an eyebrow raised in question. "That is something that I would very much like to know myself." Haru colored slightly under his gaze. "Not that I mind the transformation, but the 'how' has been bothering me slightly."

Haru shook her head in understanding, and then nodded towards the healer's door. "She is the one who performed the spell for me last night, after a small conversation we had. I had hoped you wouldn't mind the change," she added to Baron, "although even if you did my decision would have stayed the same." _But your approval was very important to me_ is what she didn't say and that Baron read in her eyes. He had to smile at that. "You'll have to ask Lady Kanade for the details thought, but I think she needs rest right now," Haru finished.

"Yes, magic would use her energy, especially such a high-level spell as changing one's species," Baron remarked. He then turned to his two friends. "I supposed Advisor Natoru and Miss Myril went back to the Cat Kingdom with Fento to warn Lune, since I haven't seen either of them since I woke up, and it was the most logical course of action to take."

Toto nodded and then proceeded to tell him what had happened while he was unconscious, as well as a resume of the whole situation for Haru's sake, since she was now, whether she wanted it or not, involved in the matter. As he finished, silence weighed heavily in the room.

Haru was horrified at the situation. How come she never realized that there were other kingdoms and empires aside the Cat Kingdom? How come she never realized that these kingdoms would need to have some kind of relation with the cats? Did she believe that, because the Cat kingdom was populated by cats and not humans its inhabitants wouldn't have to worry about things like politics? Did she think that it was all like in the fairytales she used to read when she was little, that when the prince and princess of the magical realm got together finally, everyone would live happily ever after, without any worries at all? _I could I be so childish in my thinking? I should have seen that they didn't have a king for nothing. But, then again, I guess I always considered the Cat Kingdom as a childhood dream come true, so I never bothered to think of all the complications going with the ruling of a realm. _

Haru sighed silently at that, and looked up at the other occupants of the room. Toto was perched on a the back of a chair (Haru still felt strange about the changing of size), his head cocked to the side and his first inner eyelids closed, a sure sign of deep thinking on his part. Muta was sprawled in another chair, seemingly not caring less if the world was to collapse this very instant, although his scrunched eyebrows belied his position. As for Baron…

When she saw him, Haru almost forgot everything else and had this sudden urge to grab her sketchpad and draw him. He was gorgeous! Leaning against a sofa, his hat was tipped slightly forward, his eyes half-closed and cast downwards in concentration. His left hand was holding his chin in between his index and thumb, while his other arm supported it, the cane in the right hand. One leg was outstretched, while the other was propped against the wooden leg of the sofa. Sunshine was falling on him, giving the whole picture an eerie warm feeling worthy of a great painting.

Haru really wish she could paint him, before chiding herself for being so selfish and bringing her thoughts back to the situation at hand. But no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't think of a solution. It wasn't that she wasn't intelligent; people actually told her that she was quite the contrary. It was just that she couldn't concentrate long enough, especially when the subject was completely off her interest and/or knowledge. Like war tactics, or even politics for that matter. She sighed again. Being a dreamer was great when an artist, but sometimes she wished she was able to help her friends more. She smiled as she opened her mouth to ask the most obvious question – it seemed she was stuck with that role.

"What do we do now?"

All three other occupants of the room blinked as she shook them out of their thoughts. But they didn't have any time to answer, for a door opened and Kanade strode in. She smiled as she saw the group, the wrinkles on her face increasing as she noticed the newly transformed Haru.

"Ah, I see the gods were in a generous mood for you, young Haru," she said. "I just hope they granted you this other gift – or curse in some people's mind – I told you about."

Haru nodded slightly in understanding, but chose to ignore the questioning glance Baron shot her. She wouldn't tell him about it. It wasn't any use to give him false hope about her having possible immortality when she wasn't sure of it. Instead she thanked the healer and asked her if she rested well enough.

"Yes, yes, quite well, don't you worry," answered the old woman, one hand clutching the purple – or was it violet? It seemed to change – shawl that never seemed to leave her shoulders. "But enough of that! I'm sure you're all hungry, and before you all go off and continue your adventure, what about some tea and toast? It is nearly ten."

The four nodded enthusiastically for Muta and Haru (apparently magic took its toll on the one it was used on too) and more mildly for the ever polite Toto and Baron. Breakfast - or brunch? Haru wasn't sure, but she learned somewhere that it was how European people called that meal in-between breakfast and lunch - was soon ready and the five were now seated at (or on for most of them) a large table.

"We have to somehow bring the Emperor to call a truce so he can discuss this matter with King Lune, but how?" mused Baron as he set down his tea cup.

"He won't come willingly, that I can tell you," said Toto. "Emperor Hanakash is a strong willed bird, but he is quick to anger and very stubborn. It won't be easy to get him to talk, we'll most likely have to force him somehow, and I'm not even talking about getting to him first."

"Yeah, whatever monkey-boy said sure wasn't very pleasant to have the guy react like that," added Muta, lifting his head from his plate long enough to put in his two-cents. Baron frowned. This wasn't very good news. He had been outmaneuvered once again. He knew that he wasn't the only one who had been tricked, as Hanakash proved it, but the fact that it involved Fento made it a personal matter. He finally turned back to the crow.

"Do you think a human could hold him still long enough for someone to talk to him about a possible truce?"

Toto cocked his head to the side once more. He could see where Baron's thoughts were headed, but it would be dangerous, especially for the human involved. Eagles, especially gold eagles, weren't kind to humans. They had this idea (quite justified) that they were loosing their rightful homes because of the destruction brought upon them by humanity. But of course Baron knew of these risks, and wouldn't leave the human involved in the dark about it. But more importantly, what human would help them? Haru would have been the obvious choice, but her changing into a cat made it impossible.

Both Toto and Baron glanced over at Kanade the healer, but she apparently followed the whole conversation, and held up her hands in refusal, as if saying: "Don't look at me; I'm far too old for an adventure of any sort." Toto turned his gaze back at Baron.

"Who would help us? Aside from Miss Haru and the Lady Healer, we don't know any other humans who would do such a thing for us, just because we asked!"

"Um," and the group turned to Haru at that, "I may know of someone who would help us, if provided answers to some questions she would obviously ask."

Baron raised an eyebrow at that. "And who would that person be, Haru?"

Haru smiled, a half-nervous, half-mischievous smile on her face, tail twitching in amusement. "Hiromi."

Tbc…

**Author's note: **Bleh. Too tired to write an author's note. It's 3 Am and I'm very tired, as you can tell by the disclaimer. Gah, stupid muses. Or not, depending if you're the author or a reader. And I'm babbling. I should go to sleep. No, really.

.I.

.Mean.

.NOW.

Damn hands, won't stop hitting the keys randomly. Anyway, sorry for the long wait, but I had the worst writer's block ever. Fortunately, watching the movie yet again gave me some fresh ideas and I have the whole story till the end plotted out, plus a few twists. I intend to update on the war more next chapter also. **I'm not sure if bringing Hiromi into this is such a good idea, so please tell me what you think.**

Also, reviewresponses time! (too tired to think of something funny to put here)

Phantom Ange: I just like bunnies. Baby bunnies to be precise. And besides, they were the first things that popped into mind. Yeah, strange, I know. :smirk:

EarthAngel: Thank you! I hope this chapter answered your little question. Also, the fact that the characters act OOC in the disclaimers and do stupid stuff ("over the top" as you put it) is something that I find funny. In my opinion, characters from all fandoms never act the same "on-stage" as they do in the background. The disclaimer is that background. Just think of them like real-life actors. But you don't have to like it of course, I just thought you may want to know why I was doing this.

theSilent knight: Yeah, I thought so too. Actually, that last chapter wasn't like me at all. I can hardly believe that I wrote that. I almost removed it to rewrite it (I may still do so) but I received so many praise for it that I decided not to change it for my readers' sake. I won't do that again anytime near soon. I think Baron was acting completely OOC in that scene, but I also think it was needed. He will express his feelings in a much more discreet and fitting way in future chapters, I promise.

Ragyn: Nah, the only reason the healer was warning Haru that much was because it is a lifetime decision, and so it cannot be taken lightly. As for Haru's appearance being related to her possible immortality…well, maybe. My first thought was actually to match her with Baron. I may use this later. I'm not sure about granting her immortality, as you can see by reading the little remark by Kanade in this chapter.

**TO EVERYONE ELSE WHO REVIEWED:** Thanks a lot for all the comments and appreciations! They really keep me going. I don't think I could have written this chapter without all the support you all gave me! THANK YOU! I hope you still like the story, and if you like (or not) this chapter and want to tell me something about it, even flames, please review! It is really important for me, so I can make this story better.

See you all soon, and again sorry for the long wait,

Ellenlome

-


	12. Chapter eleven

Ellenlome: I did it! The second to last chapter! Or third to last, depending on whether or not you guys ask for the last optional chapter when I tell what it's about…in the next chapter! And I own your souls now! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (cough) haha (cough).

Muta: you've been playing waaay too much at that stupid computer game, kiddo.

Ellenlome: Don't call me kiddo! And Baldur's Gate II is NOT stupid! You'd better remember that!

Muta :sticks his tongue out: Bleh!

Ellenlome: Why you: starts running after laughing Muta:

Baron and Haru:sweatdrop:

Haru: Uh….Do you think we should tell them that they forgot to do the disclaimer?

Baron: We should. But we won't.

:Ellenlome and Muta are still running. A club-thingy look-alike is in Ellenlome's hand while she shouts "Lin Alun For Shar!":

Haru: Why?

Baron:smirk: Because it is much funnier that way. :smirk grows into evil grin:

Haru:sigh: Ellenlome doesn't own the "Cat Returns", just the plot of this story and any original characters. :to Baron: And stop doing that. You're scary.

**Whispers of a distant land: Chapter eleven**

Cells, especially those in dungeons, weren't good for your health. Anyone can tell you that they're bad enough as they are. But even worse are cells that are in dark, gloomy, deeply buried dungeons. They had lots of defaults, as one can surmise. First off, architects never thought that those placed in them would use them very long, for obvious reasons, and so never bothered to make them very comfortable – such a thing was for prisoners of higher rank, who would be more than likely placed in special holding cells. Hard, cold stone is not the best place to rest, as many a back told its owner in high protest. Of course, that can still be overlooked, as well as the lack of exercise resulting in an amorphous state, and the vermin scurrying in the darkness and more often than not on the feet and legs of the prisoners. But what one cannot overlook is the cold dampness that seeps into one's very bone, with all that that implies. No, cells weren't good for one's health at all.

A good thing was that such cells were only found in dungeons nowadays, and dungeons could only be found in castles or some such place. The Cat Kingdom's palace was no exception, and so Fento discovered it, along with all the above mentioned unpleasant things that went along with it. He frowned as he looked at his surroundings: the cell into which the guards had placed him was so small he could barely move around, with three wet and slimy walls – the place was undoubtedly under the lake's surface level – and an equally wet and slimy ceiling. The floor was covered in what Fento could guess was straw under all the grime and fungus covering it, and infested by vermin of all sorts, including the largest sort of cockroach the creature had ever seen – and had no desire to see again, it was plain repugnant. Furniture comprised in total of a hard stone bench that would serve as a bed too had Fento "planned" on staying longer, with a bucket shucked under it.

The monkey-like creature was currently standing near the bars of the grid that was the fourth "wall" of the cell, looking grimly at the two guards sitting at the nearby table, sorting through his possessions – Fento's fur still bristled at the memory of the search he had to endure. The humiliation! And the nerve! If only that damn Baron had not meddled in the whole affair, surely Fento would still be in favor with King Lune and sitting comfortably in his office, sipping at a quality wine while waiting for Hanakash's attack. But now that the annoying advisor and the haughty sea eagle had reported his machinations and plans to Lune, there was no regaining the cat's trust.

Fento had before thought of waiting still for the birds' attack and help to get him out, but as he heard Lune give orders in preparation of the conflict to come, Fento quickly gave up that idea. The cats may be less numerous than the birds, and most likely less strong, but Lune was an exceedingly good tactician and fighter, and the Cat Kingdom's citizens would be well prepared and organized by the time Hanakash launched his attack. No, Fento was not expecting help from the birds any more. Already, as four guards escorted him to the dungeons, his mind had launched into designing complicated and less complicated plans for escape. He had even thought of fighting his way out, but had wisely decided that battling the whole garrison was not at the top of his "want to do" list, and if he could he would avoid fighting altogether – the fight against Baron had taxed him more than he thought, and he needed rest. The only positive point in the whole thing was that he was more than certain that Baron was dead by now. Now, as he looked over at his possession, a wicked glimmer entered his eyes; he had found his ticket to freedom.

----oOo----

To be a member of the teaching staff, one has to be serious, mature and also able to keep his head cool in any situation. This is what is required of a good teacher. At least, this is what Hiromi's tutors at the university kept pounding into her and her fellow students' heads all year long. So, it is quite normal that after nearly three years of hearing this, one acts like a "good teacher", even in his/her life. However, with her bed buried under a mound of clothes and herself digging into another even bigger pile of clothes, Hiromi wasn't fitting the good teacher image anymore. Right now, she was absolutely frantic. Not panicking, mind you, but positively flapping. Her usually tidy room had disappeared under clothes, makeup, and whatnot, as if a storm had passed through it, or at least that's what anyone would have thought.

Of course, Hiromi could perfectly well justify the mess. She was preparing for a date with Tsuge, maybe the date, as in THE big date where he would propose. After all, he had booked an extremely romantic restaurant, and it would be a full moon, the perfect setting in Hiromi's mind. She had to be wearing perfect clothing for the occasion, and couldn't allow herself to be distracted from that task. And so, she wasn't happy at all when the phone rung. Hiromi glared at the annoying object before turning away, hoping that whoever was calling would give up. No such luck. It kept on ringing and ringing. Hiromi glared at the white phone, before finally picking it up with a groan and a muttered curse, thinking that whoever it was had better be Tsuge or else…

But she soon forgot all her murderous thoughts when she heard who was at the other end:

"Haru!"

"Hello, 'romi."

"Where have you been! You're mother's frantic, she nearly called the police! And what of that cryptic message you left on my phone? You have better explain right now, or else I'm never covering up for you again!"

Silence. Hiromi breathed deeply, ready to give her best friend another tirade for fraying her nerves by almost disappearing. Just as she was about ready to burst though, the reply came, very quiet over the line:

"Hiromi, are you alone?"

"What? Oh, yes." The auburn-haired woman was a bit perplexed. Haru knew very well that Hiromi now lived in an apartment, and so was alone most of time, except when Haru herself came over. Something was afoot, and Hiromi's next word was full of good-natured suspicion: "Why?"

"Can…can I come over and talk to you privately? I…Listen, I've got two friends with me, can they come too? I know it's rude but…"

"Don't worry, it's ok. I'll be waiting."

Another silence, then something that sounded like a breath released after being held for too long. _What, did she think I would say no? What's going on?_ Hiromi's wild imagination came up with all sorts of absurd reasons Haru would act so, even the weird idea that she had a secret gangster boyfriend – preferably a yakuza in Hiromi's mind's eye – and that the two of them were running away to some far away country in order to marry, with the help of a shady character from a rival gangster band. Hiromi almost laughed as soon as the idea crossed her mind.

"Thank you, 'romi. I…can you please promise not to freak out when you see me?" Haru said over the phone.

"Uh? Yeah, sure, I promise, but what…?"

"I'll see you in five minutes. Bye."

Hiromi stared at the beeping phone for a good two minutes before setting it down slowly on her desk. _What in the heck was that about?_ Finally, totally out of her dressing fit, Hiromi decided that she would make tea while waiting. The herbal tea was almost ready by the time her doorbell rang, and she rushed to open it.

"Haru you…! Huh? Haru?" There was no one at the door, and the corridor was seemingly empty of any human activity. Had she dreamed the sound?

"Down here, 'romi."

Hiromi nearly fainted.

----oOo----

Myril of Clouded Tops. Once, a long time ago, that title had held some great significance to the sea eagle, but it had all turned out to be a hoax, an empty name that Myril had shed as an encumbering shell. She knew that somewhere, sometime, centuries in the past, the title was given to one who showed the most braveness and loyalty to the Empire, and the bird who received it needed not be of noble birth to be treated like an equal by them. It was a title that spoke of power, and courage, but most and foremost of righteousness. When she had received it, barely three years old and hardly a mature eagle, white feathered Myril had been proud of such an honor, too naïve in the ways of the world to understand the reason why it was given to her. But she had truly believed in the meaning of it at the time, and had decided to live up to the name, and what had only be a hoax, a mere decoy to please the population, soon became a true hero, earning the respect of the population, and even a few of the nobles.

Guards scrambled on the balcony and in the courtyard below, running to their posts or answering the call of their superiors to the battlefront. At the sight of the soldiers and their royal uniform, Myril felt a pang of old anger at the nobles these cats served, an anger that was a painful reminder of the eagle's banishment.

When Myril had seen the commoner be assaulted unjustifiably by the peacock lord, she had immediately sided with the unfortunate parrot, and had quite effectively battled him back, saving the young bird's life in the process, all the while knowing that she had been right in doing so, and quite convinced that, no matter what threats the peacock uttered at her, the Empire's justice would side with her and punish the real culprit. But she had been wrong, and when the Empire's police dragged her off to rot in a dungeon, without trial, the sea eagle's naïve perception of the world was shattered, as well as all the ideals that she held dear, and as she withered away in the dungeon, she came to believe that there was nothing worth fighting for, for all justice was forsaken in this corrupted world.

Now, perched on a tower of the cats' palace, Myril was no longer so convinced of that. Natoru, Baron, Toto, Haru, and all these people she had met up till now reminded her of what she had fought for so long, all those she had defended over the years and their true unmasked gratefulness shining on their faces as they flashed through her memory. She remembered the baby eagle she had saved as it fell off the cliff, she remembered the parents' relief. She remembered the smile of the old seagull as Myril "accidentally" dropped a fish in front of him. She remembered the song of the wren girl as she played on a branch near the home she had lost. Yes, Myril remembered them all, and she smiled.

"Care to share the joke?" asked a voice from below her.

Myril turned her gaze downwards, her head slightly cocked to the side and the smile never leaving her face, only to be met by the mismatched eyes of King Lune, standing, weary, on the balcony, paws crossed behind his back.

"Just recalling some memories," replied Myril companionably.

Lune raised an eyebrow but did not press the issue, instead choosing to use this rare lull in all the activity to better know the sea eagle that had brought back to him his advisor and practically delivered Fento, and looked at her fully for the first time. Myril ignored his inquisitive gaze and turned back to looking over at the seemingly endless hills and plains that were the Cat Kingdom's territory.

"Those memories must be very happy ones indeed to make you smile so," he stated finally.

The eagle gazed at the landscape for a full minute before answering. "Actually, it is most painful."

"What?" Lune didn't understand. How could painful memories make one smile? Lune raised and eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate, but when it became obvious that the bird wasn't going to say more without prompting on his part, Lune asked again: "How is that so?"

"The memories of that time are painful, for they are of something that is gone forever but, at the same time, they help me remember…remember that there are things…worth fighting for…"

The reply raised even more questions in Lune, but he knew that the eagle wasn't going to say anything more. Birds could be extremely cryptic in their answers. There was an uneasy silence during which the two pondered on how to continue this conversation, during which more soldiers passed underneath in a tight column, practicing some war maneuvers. Lune winced at the sight. He never liked fighting, especially when it could be avoided.

"Do you know how you're going to avoid this war, King Lune?"

The cat jumped slightly. The question wasn't unexpected, but the one asking it was. The cat never would have expected a bird to ask him that, but then again, Myril didn't seem to like the idea of a war any better than he did. He cocked his head to the side, a habit he had somehow taken up from Toto. And as Toto, Lune felt that he could trust the eagle. Maybe she could help him. After all, an outsider's point of view could be useful, and right now any idea was a good idea to the tired king of cats.

"Honestly, Miss Myril? I don't know." Myril gasped, but kept silent and Lune continued: "I have ordered my cats to avoid fighting as much as possible, and to not wound the opposing party seriously when a fight is unavoidable. I do not want to give Emperor Hanakash more reasons to be angry. No doubt he was tricked by Fento, judging by what Natoru and you told me, and this fight is without any real reason. If only" – he sighed – "if only I could get to talk to him personally, I'm sure we could come to a peaceful ending."

Myril nodded, her eyes fixed on the cat king. He was so young, even in Myril's eyes, even though she was sure that the cat was already twice her age. She hoped he could endure such a pressure. Myril had lived outside the protection of the city, and so her experience made her wise beyond her years, but had she been given the choice she would have liked to have a childhood. Even so, she couldn't decide which was better: childhood memories to share and rely on in times of trouble, or experience and wisdom at the cost of a lost family? She couldn't decide, and, having nothing better to offer, Myril gave him the only thing she had: hope.

"I'm sure the Baron is trying something to help both out people right now. He'll succeed, don't worry."

Lune smiled, grateful for the advice. He just hoped he could have enough faith to last as long as it would take the cat figurine to accomplish whatever plan he had. Lune turned and silently walked back inside, while Myril resumed her passive watching.

----oOo----

Hiromi sipped at her tea pensively, soaking in all Haru had told her. The story was quite unbelievable, if it weren't for the fact that her best friend was now a cat woman and was currently sitting on her kitchen table with a cat and a crow. She glanced at the cat curiously, and took in his appearance. She supposed that he must be quite handsome by cat standards, and his manners were flawless, with all the charm of British aristocracy. Hiromi could very well picture Haru falling for him. Heck, if she had had the same experience as Haru and hadn't met Tsuge, she was sure she would have had a crush on him too.

Her gaze went back to her friend. Hiromi was far from stupid, and was generally good when it came to reading people's feelings and attitudes, and so it hadn't escaped her that Haru had – quite obviously and willingly – left out some parts of her tale, and seeing as she didn't mention her emotions about the orange cat too much, Hiromi had a very good guess at what Haru had left out, and a smirk involuntarily made it's way on her face as she thought of the endless teasing she could make Haru endure. The smirk quickly faded though when she remembered what the threesome had come here to ask her for.

"Tackle an eagle, eh?" she asked Haru, her voice fully indicating her feelings on the matter.

Haru nodded, not letting Hiromi's sarcasm getting to her. She wasn't losing that battle, it was far too important, both for the world she was soon to be part of and for those she held dear in her heart. "Yup, so we can have some time to talk him into at least a truce without being pierced by various weapons and," and Haru raised a hand to stop Hiromi's oncoming comment, "yes, I know that it involves great risks for you 'romi, but we wouldn't have come to you if we had any other choice. I would rather put myself in danger than see my best friend hurt, but for my current form."

Hiromi pouted. "And I guess you can't reverse the thing either?"

Haru grinned. She knew she had won the argument, and Hiromi grimaced slightly. Haru was one of the few who could read her so well. The chocolate-haired woman's – or was it cat? Argh, this was getting confusing – next words confirmed her feelings:

"So you'll do it?"

Hiromi sighed and put her cup back down on the table. "Yeah, I will."

"Thanks 'romi! You're the greatest!" And at that Haru proceeded to hug Hiromi, which was quite awkward since the former had arms a few sizes too small to encircle the latter's neck properly. Finally they settled back down and Hiromi turned to the orange cat who had sat through the whole negotiation in silence.

"So, what should I do?"

Baron turned to her, steeping his fingers together in front of him as the others leaned forward.

"Here is what we should do. I have already sent Muta to…"

As he exposed his plan, the clock slowly ticked by, and Hiromi's preparations for her date lay long forgotten in the form of disarrayed piles of clothes.

Tbc…

**Author's note: **

Ok, before I start this….I"M SORRY! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME:sweatdrop: Well, that was embarrassing. :sweatdrop again: I know, I know, I haven't written in a long time! It's just that I was kinda stuck on this chapter and the next one, 'cause my dear muses (striking at 3 AM again, I wonder if it's my punishment for being late on updating) banded together with the plot bunnies and added a new twist to the story that I think the majority of you will have seen in this chapter. I actually think I made it too obvious, but oh well…

Anyway, the next chapter will be the last (maybe) as you have surmised from the disclaimer at the top, unless you ask for the Happy Ending extra one, in which nothing will happen. The Extra Chapter would only deal with minor things such as Haru's mother's reaction, and some fluff. Whatever. You're the readers, so you decide.

I think that is all I have to say. Oh yeah, hope you liked Myril's character bio:D

**Review responses time! (:random purple camel runs across the fanfiction void:all the fandom characters sweatdrop:)**

Kamiko-Zefuru: That's very much probable :smirk: But I don't think we'll ever know, although I DO find it funny. I never made the connection up till now. :laughs: thanks for reviewing and sharing that piece of mind. It made my day when I read it.

Phantom Ange: Bunnies are great! And random! (in my case anyway) But kittens are better. :smile: Hope you liked Hiromi's appearance. As for Haru's mother…well, I haven't figured that out yet, but I'm working on it. I can't imagine Haru just running away from her without any explanation at all. It just isn't realistic. If I DO find a solution though, it will be in the Extra Chapter for sure. Just watch out for it. :)

TO EVRYONE ELSE: Thanks a lot guys! Hiromi's here, hope you liked it! She doesn't have a major role in the story, but as e-chan pointed out, not many stories have her. :smiles and waves: See you all next chapter!

P.S: I wonder if I should changer the name to "Whiskers of a distant land":ponders:laughs: Just joking guys.


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